Lost Hearts
by greentee21
Summary: When Sakura moves to Suna to help train medics, her and Naruto's relationship is rocked. Now separated from each other, they decide to continue to live their lives, even if it means forgetting each other. With Naruto engaged to Hinata and Sakura returning to Konoha, old feelings resurface and new ones develop, but is every ones heart in the right place?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Lost Hearts**

**Prologue**

"WHAT?! They want you to do WHAT?!" Uzumaki Naruto yelled at the young kunoichi standing in front of him. Sighing heavily she grabbed his arm and pulled him into her office.

"Naruto calm down will you! You want the whole hospital to know?!" she hissed at him swiftly closing the door.

"Well if that makes you change your mind then yeah! I want the whole hospital to know! I want the whole village to know!" he shouted walking over to the window and gesturing with his arms.

"I haven't made a decision yet! You're not even listening to me!"

"They've built a huge, newly furbished hospital in Suna and they want you to move there and be their head medic and take part in some stupid programme too! Isn't that what you just told me?" Naruto questioned, folding his arms and turning to face her.

Sakura sighed, "It's not some stupid programme! They want me to help train some of their future medics and help improve their health facilities there! Why are you getting so worked up about this anyway? It's not like they're forcing me! It's my choice, I can say no -"

"So why don't you?!" Naruto interrupted.

"Wha- I - Its ...I mean it's a...good opportunity for me to share my knowledge and help others..." Sakura replied biting her lip, trying to get Naruto to look at her.

Naruto turned to face the window and looked out at the village. The Sun was beginning to set, bathing the village in a orange hue. Villagers where returning home after a long day of work in the summer heat and shops where beginning to close. Naruto's eyes fell upon a familiar shop, one whom he loved all his life, Ichiraku Ramen. Whilst the rest of the village closed up for the night, Ichiraku remained open. Always open, knowing a certain blond ninja would waltz in any second. Naruto smiled whilst thinking of how Teuchi-san and Ayame-san would be waiting for him with his favourite bowl of ramen ready.

"I don't have to go if you don't want me to..." Sakura spoke, softly.

Naruto was taken out of his memories upon hearing her voice. He froze, not knowing what to do or say. He turned around to see Sakura standing by her desk, pulling the sleeves of her shirt into her hands and staring at the floor. Naruto stood, confused.

_What should I say? _He thought to himself

_Should I tell her that I don't want her to leave? That I want her to stay here...with me?_

Naruto looked down at the floor and gathered his thoughts.

"Naruto..?" Sakura questioned looking at him with pleading eyes, "If you want me to stay I -"

"No! " Naruto yelled, immediately looking up at Sakura.

"What..?" A confused Sakura asked.

"I mean, No, I don't...I mean..." he sighed, "Sakura-chan, this is a great opportunity for you! Everyone one in the village knows how great you are, so it's only natural that other villages want your expertise too!" Naruto answered with a huge smile.

"So I say go! If it's what you really want and what will make you happy then I'll support your decision!" He continued, lifting his right arm and giving her a thumbs up.

Sakura stood there speechless, she didn't expect this. Naruto telling her to leave the village so easily? Even being happy at the prospect of her leaving?

"So, you're saying that you'll be happy if I went?" Sakura enquired.

"Mmmhmm!" Naruto nodded, the smile still plastered on his face.

Sakura felt a tinge on hurt, she'd expected him to get angry, which he did, but allowing her to leave so easily, that was hard to take. After thinking a little she replied.

"Ok," Sakura gulped, "Erm, I leave tomorrow morning with Gaara-san." She lied, moving towards her desk chair and shifting a few papers.

"That's good, I'll see you then!" Naruto replied walking towards the door.

"Naruto." Sakura said.

Naruto noticed the seriousness in her voice and turned around to see her back towards him. Before he could reply she spoke,

"Promise me something will you?" She said, keeping her back to him.

"Sakura-ch-"

"Promise me that you will find someone to love and be with and for them to love you. Just the way you are," she said, quietly.

Naruto remained silent, shocked at what Sakura had said "Ok? I don't want you to be alone when I'm gone. You're going to need someone to look after you and scold you and put up with your idiocy, and I don't think Sasuke-kun has time for that!" she joked.

"Sakura -chan wha-?" Naruto started.

"Just promise me yeah? It's not good to be alone and not have someone there for you, who understands you and comforts you! I mean look at Sasuke-kun, he has Karin and they seem so happy! So promise me that you'll find their happiness to!" Sakura finished, turning around and giving Naruto the same huge smile he gave her a few minutes ago. Naruto stood frozen, staring at her face, unable to forge a reply.

Noticing he hadn't answered, Sakura softened her smile and quietly said, "Please?"

Naruto's gaze fell to the floor once again, his vision was beginning to blur and before Sakura could notice, he closed his eyes tightly, smiled widely, and promised forcefully.

Sakura left that night, with Gaara, Temari and Kankuro and a few other Sand nins. The only people s

he told, Sasuke, Karin and Ino, along with Tsunade were also there to send her off.

She knew Naruto would keep their promise, he always had. She only made him promise such a huge thing, as she was almost certain that they wouldn't meet again, that was until Tsunade got in contact.

* * *

Sakura stood facing the entrance of her old village. She gulped a few times and felt her legs going numb. Her heart started to beat fast and her breathing quickened, it wasn't until Temari walked passed and placed a hand on Sakura's back that she came out of her stupor.

"Hey, you're back home!" Temari grinned.

With a half hearted smile Sakura replied, "Yeah, home."

* * *

**_Ok so this is my first fanfic, I had this idea in my head, and I wanted to see if it'll work out. This is only the prologue so I can understand if its not as interesting._**

**_But please rate and review so I can see if I need to improve!_**

**_Thank you for reading :)_**


	2. Homecoming

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 1**

Sakura hesitantly walked through the entrance to Konoha and was immediately met with villagers rushing around bumping into each other carrying heavy bags. They were all so preoccupied with their shopping that they didn't even notice the Kazekage and his companions making their way through the scurrying villagers.

Sakura looked around as she softly pushed past the busy individuals. A wave of nostalgia hit her, making her smile warmly and so calming her nerves. This was her village, her Konoha. The place she grew up and loved - still loved. The apprehensiveness of returning to her village had gone, or rather forgotten.

"Looks like there's something special going on." Temari said, apologising to the man she'd just elbowed.

"Really? I wouldn't have noticed, not with all these mad villagers running around with huge parcels and decorations in their hands!" Kankuro sarcastically remarked.

"What the hell's up with you and your attitude? You're not the only one whose had to travel for 3 days in the heat!" she barked back.

"Would've been a lot easier without you bossing everyone around all the time..." he muttered looking in the opposite direction.

"What d'ya say?"

"AH! Temari-san look! We're here!" Sakura quickly quipped before Temari could get to Kankuro and make a show of themselves.

Temari turned around and saw herself looking up at the Hokage tower. It remained the exact same as it was 2 years ago. The painting seemed to have been re-touched, but no major changes.

"Kazekage-sama!" A man guarding the doors bellowed walking through the entrance.

"The Hokage-sama is expecting you! Please follow me."

Sakura followed the three sand siblings up the stairs and down the corridor till they reached the Hokage's office door. The guard gave a rhythmic knock and waited to receive a reply.

"Come in!" a woman shouted.

"Hokage-sama, the Kazekage-sama and his companions are here."

"Yes yes let them in."

Moving to the side to allow Gaara and the rest into the room, the guard disappeared in a swift movement.

"You guys sure took your time." Tsunade said looking up at the four individuals standing in front of her desk.

"We would've been here earlier if it wasn't for the heat." Gaara replied.

"Or Kankuro's stomach..." Temari muttered, narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"Yes well, I'm glad you're here now. Shizune will take you to your accommodation whilst I speak with Sakura." Tsunade said to Gaara.

"Yes, please follow me." Shizune directed, smiling warmly and walking towards the door. With a slight nod at Tsunade, Gaara walked after Shizune, followed by his siblings.

"Sakura! It's been a long time!" Tsunade exclaimed, catching the kunoichi by surprise.

"I'm sure it feels quite strange to be back, but I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't urgent, so I'll just cut to it. A number of our medic-nins have been killed during a mass mission and the few who survived are badly injured. We now have a huge demand for medics and thankfully we have plenty of ninjas up for the job, the only problem is we don't have anyone capable of training them. Well not to the level of handling serious combat injuries at least. So you should be privileged to know that you are the only person capable and available to start the training." Tsunade finished, standing up and walking over to a huge cabinet, yanking out piles of paper.

Trying to soak in all Tsunade had just said, Sakura found herself looking at the piles of paper with a confused look. Snapping out of her confusion, she tried to make sense of everything.

"Err..um..wait a second Tsunade-sama! What mass mission?" she asked worryingly.

Tsunade let out a loud sigh and brushed her hair out of her face.

"There was a rumour that some missing-nins from surrounding countries had teamed up and plotted to attack Konoha. At first it was only a rumour, but when people started to go missing a year ago and threatening notes displayed around the village, we knew this wasn't a small matter." Tsunade dragged out a last batch of papers and dumped them on her desk before moving towards her chair. Sakura kept her eyes fixated on the Hokage, listening intently.

"So we decided to take this head on and not give them anymore time to take innocent lives. The 'few' missing -nins turned out to be armies of enemies, quietly gathering under the shadows of the Five Nations. There must have been Thousands of them. The fighting lasted for a year and a bit, on and off, until they finally surrendered, but over that time, we'd gradually lost all, if not most of our skilful medic-nins. It's been a huge blow to our health system, not just for combat, but for the welfare of villagers too and their day-to-day lives."

Shocked by what she was hearing, Sakura's inquisitive mind didn't stop, "Why didn't we know about this?"

"The council and I agreed to keep this matter within Konoha. Although there is an understanding between the nations, if Konoha was known to become weakened, then who knows what other mystery attacks would take place. However upon requesting your return, I informed Gaara of everything and so he has offered to lend us some help with re-building and stuff." Tsunade replied assuring Sakura things were ok now.

"What about Ino?" Sakura suddenly questioned.

Looking up at Sakura, Tsunade furrowed her eyebrows, "Hmm?"

"I mean she's a great medic-nin too! She knows everything there is to know and is more than capable to-"

"_Ino_ has helped as much as she can, but she is very busy at the moment, she has other...things to attend to." Tsunade answered.

"As for myself and Shizune, we are also busy in making agreements and developing an understanding with the surrounding countries, to avoid anything like this happening again. So unfortunately we aren't able to dedicate lengthy amounts of time to training medics. Sakura. If you do not wish to part-take in this then I -"

"No!" Sakura shouted.

"No?"

"No, I don't mind! I was just curious that's all! It's been a while since I've been here and I don't really know what's been going on that's all! I'd be happy to carry out the training Tsunade-sama!" Sakura exclaimed, smiling widely.

Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief, "Ahh, that's good to hear! This is all the information you will need on the new trainees as well as any changes to the hospital system, staff, surgeries...things like that." Tsunade said gesturing to the piles of paper on her desk, causing Sakura to grimace.

_All of that paper? She's got to be kidding me!_ She thought.

"I'll send someone round to your house with all of this, in a more manageable form, it wouldn't be fair to ask you to take them all home with you now. That is of course assuming you will be living in your parents apartment...?" Tsunade inquired.

"Is it still under our name?" Sakura said, snapping out of her thoughts of all the gruelling paper work in front of her.

Sakura's parents had also moved to Suna shortly after their daughter, claiming they wanted a change of scenery, but she knew they'd moved out of concern for her well being. Not that she minded, she enjoyed having them with her there, gave her sense of security, and lessened the loneliness. They had adapted so well to the sand that they decided to remain in Suna rather than return to Konoha, knowing full well that Konoha was probably the place where they felt she was safest and so their minds where well at ease, unknown to them all the problems Konoha had faced recently.

"Of course it is! Just because you and your parents left doesn't mean you don't belong here. You are still a well respected member of the village! Even though I did try to sell it in a bet many times..." Tsunade murmured the latter, looking to the floor and rubbing her chin.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"A-ha ha! Nothing! It's nothing! Now go! Go! Get some rest and relax! You've had such a long journey!" Tsunade said, ushering Sakura out of her office.

Her hand had just reached the door knob when she turned and faced the Hokage who was settling back into her chair.

"Tsunade-sama, did you ever find out why Konoha was attacked? Their reasoning?"

"Oh, hmm, unfortunatley no. That's a question we're still trying to answer." Tsunade replied.

"Oh right. Well, Ok then! See you soon!" Sakura said, waving at her and walking out of the office.

* * *

"Oi! Hurry up will you! You wanna get to everywhere tonight or tomorrow night?" Uchiha Sasuke bellowed from the front gate.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" came a feminine voice rushing down the path, fiddling with an earring.

The red headed woman was wearing a long black strapless dress that she teamed with a flowy lilac jumper. It had white lace sewn at the end of the sleeves, and the collar and matched her attire with her flower shaped dangly earrings. She had her hair out as usual and her glasses firmly on. The man she was walking towards was dressed in a casual attire, making do with black trousers and a dark, navy blue, long sleeved, collared shirt. The only accessory he had was a piece of green string wrapped around his wrist, identical to the womans.

"Ahh, ready?" Karin asked, smiling, finally getting the earring in place.

Sasuke looked at her with a blank expression before replying, "You look good, let's go." And started walking off.

Karin blushed slightly and followed him down the road.

"So do you think she knows we know?" she asked Sasuke when she'd caught up to him and linking her arm with his.

"I dunno, don't think so considering it was the Hokage who told us specifically." he replied, keeping his hands in his pocket and allowing the woman to lean against him.

"Yeah true, But still! I can't wait to see the look on her face when we finally meet again! Two years is a long time huh?"

"Yeah it is. A lot has happened." He answered looking at the road ahead.

* * *

When she got home, Sakura took a much needed shower and wore black knee length leggings and a plain burgundy t-shirt, one size too big. She was drying her wet hair when she heard a loud knock at the front door.

"Oh great, Tsunande-sama's already got the paperwork sorted out, didn't she say she'd give me some time?" She said speaking into the mirror. Quickly sorting her hair to look more presentable, she made her way to the door, where she was greeted by an overly excited woman who leaped into her apartment and wrapped her arms around her.

"Sakura!" Karin screamed.

"It's been so long! We had no idea you were back! Or were coming back even!" she said, letting Sakura free.

"Karin!" Sakura replied, a little late.

"Wha- how di-" Sakura started.

"Tsunade-sama told us everything." Sasuke cut in, walking in behind Karin, finally appearing into sight.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled warmly.

"It's been a while Sakura." he replied, with a faint, barely noticeable smile.

_Did he just smile?_ Sakura thought.

"So Sakura! In honour of your return to the village, we decided to take you out!" Karin proclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"Wait what? Karin?" Sasuke interrupted, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. He stepped in front of Karin, turning his back on Sakura, keeping distance between themselves and her.

"What? What's wrong?" Karin whispered back.

"We never agreed on that! We have other places to go remember! He said meet him at 7.30 sharp -" Sasuke whispered back, careful not to let Sakura hear, but his part in the conversation was stopped, by two fingers resting on his lips.

"Shhh. It doesn't matter! He said 7.30-ISH and its only 6, besides it'll be nice to catch up, I'm sure she's got lots to tell and we kind of do too!" Karin replied, nervously smiling to the floor.

"Erm, is everything ok?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke and Karin turned to look at Sakura who was now sitting cross legged on the couch, staring at the two individuals.

"Err, yeah! Yeah! Of course it is! What are you doing all the way over there?" Karin asked, moving past Sasuke.

"Well I just assumed you wanted some privacy." Sakura replied.

"Ahh no no! It's not like that!" Karin joked, waving her hands in front of her.

"Everything's fine! Right Sasuke-kun?" Karin turned around giving Sasuke a glare.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." He shrugged.

Karin whipped around and smiled widely at Sakura, "Great! Ok, go get dressed and we'll head out!" she said pulling Sakura off the couch and shoving her into her room.

"We'll stand outside!" She yelled.

_Ugh, she's got stronger. _Sakura said to herself, rubbing her arm. _Suppose it would be nice to go out and catch up with them. Specially since Karin's so excited. _ She thought.

With that decision she got up and put on her casual attire. A small navy blue skirt, and her regular red shirt with a pale yellow t-shirt underneath. She opted to leave her boots and wear smaller shoes instead, for comfort. She quickly brushed her hair and left it out, still feeling its mild dampness and walked out the front door.

"Ah finally!" Karin said, linking her arm with Sakura's and heading off down the road, with Sasuke on her other side.

They stopped at the end of the road, when they reached a restaurant. It was small and cosy, with little booths on either side. The centre had big tables with stools that young couples out for the night had occupied.

Karin, Sasuke and Sakura were guided to one of the booths near the window. As they settled in, Sakura felt the softness of the seats and immediately felt relaxed. She didn't have time to get some sleep or rest at home so this was a good substitution. After giving their orders to the waiter, she found herself admiring the paintings on the wall, which looked hand drawn, depicting the different seasons all around the room. They were seated by the Spring section, noted by the cherry blossoms drawn on the wall. Sakura smiled looking up at the drawing.

"Mmm, what a coincidence they seat us here eh?" Karin spoke, also admiring the drawings, obviously referring to Sakura's name and appearance.

Sakura nodded and took in a deep breath, "So tell me what's new?" she said looking back at the two sitting in front of her as their food arrived.

"Aw well not much!" Karin lied, causing Sasuke to narrow his eyes at her.

She quickly glanced at his eyes and looked up at Sakura, "Well you already know what happened to the village as a whole, that was really scary, but at least things are looking up now! Tons of new places have opened, bars, spas, restaurants, even houses! And they've opened some new clothing stores too and boy do they have nice dresses, one of which I'm wearing today!" Karin proclaimed, gesturing at her dress, causing Sakura to smile.

"This place is new too, it was supposed to open some time ago, but the attack didn't help, hmm, what else is there, well I've begun teaching in the Academy quite recently actually, it would've been earlier but I kept losing the application forms..and Sasuke-kuns become part of the council! He's been helping to re-built parts of the village and keep it safe, oh and we got married - could you pass the salt?" Karin finished, rushing the sentence.

Sakura sat staring at Karin, absorbing all she'd said. She looked down at the food in confusion and blinked a few times before speaking, "Wait, what?!"

"What, what?" Karin replied, reaching for the salt herself.

"What did you just say?!" Sakura questioned.

"Oh my gosh, Sakura you're not going to make me repeat all of that are you? Urgh, fine, The village wa-" Karin re-started.

"No! You just said you're married!" Sakura responded.

"Oh right, err, yeah that's what I said." Karin replied, nonchalantly.

"What? When? Where? How?" Sakura inquired, confused.

"Wha-How? Really?!" Karin said, shaking her head.

"We got married a couple months after you'd left. Being engaged for 2 years was long enough, and then we heard about all the rumours of those missing-nins and thought it was best not to wait. It wasn't anything big! Honest! Just a few of us, you know close friends, you didn't miss much really!" Karin explained, attempting to lift Sakura.

Sasuke, who remained quiet throughout the women's conversation looked up from his food to see the hurt expression on Sakura's face.

"Sakura." He spoke. She was so engrossed in Karin's talk that she'd almost forgotten he was there too. She immediately looked up and was shocked at the seriousness of his voice.

"We did want you there. Honest. But you had just left the village and we knew how hard it was for you. Returning to attend a wedding then leaving again, it would've been much harder."

Sakura looked down at her lap and nodded.

"I understand." She said looking up at the two.

"You're right, it would've been worse to leave after seeing you married! I would've been hysterically crying if I was there though..." she said, looking away from them and imagining that scenario.

"Yeah, Lee and Guy-sensei did put up a show..." Sasuke commented, grimacing.

Sakura came back from her imagination and started laughing at the thought of Sasuke's comment.

"Well, it's kind of late but Congratulations!" Sakura exclaimed happily. "You must have some wedding pictures at least right?" she asked hopefully.

Karin smiled warmly, "Thanks. And Yes! We do! We have tons! Why didn't I think of that before!"

When they finished eating and paid for the meal, the three walked down the busy street. The commotion from earlier had died down, as in there weren't people rushing around, stepping on each others' toes, instead it was a festival like atmosphere, with shops decked out with beautiful lights and decorations, and scores of people drinking, eating and laughing together. Sakura thought hard before she spoke,

"There isn't any festival going on is there...?" She asked, barely able to remember.

"No there isn't. Something else must be up." Sasuke replied, grabbing hold of Karin's hand, who in turn grabbed hold of Sakura's, and led them out of the crowds and into a posh restaurant.

"Ooo, this is nice!" Karin exclaimed letting go of Sakura's hand, but keeping hers to Sasuke's.

"This must be new too." Sasuke added.

The room was filled with large rounded tables all down either side of the restaurant, playing host to large groups of people all enjoying themselves. A bar ran down the middle of the room, with glass counters and burgundy coloured stools, matching the colour of the walls. Long, deep red curtains were draped near the walls too, giving it an elegant feel.

As the three stood admiring their surroundings, a sudden raucous round of applause erupted from one of the end tables. Voices of cheers and women squealing then followed.

"I'm guessing some sort of celebration...?" Sakura suggested.

"No way (!)" Sasuke remarked, sarcastically, prompting Sakura to frown.

"Mmmm, I really want to gate crash." Karin said, staring mischievously at the crowd now gathered near the loud cheers.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea Karin! What if it's a small family gathering? And besides it's rude too, three random strangers celebrating their happiness for what?" Sakura said looking over at Karin then back at the group.

"Free drink, free food." Karin replied, to the point.

A small chuckle left Sakura's mouth and she shook her head. As the three ninjas remained standing and keeping their distance from the gathering crowd a blonde haired woman wearing a green robe marched over to them.

"Sakura!" she bellowed, reaching up to them.

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura replied warmly.

"What are you doing here?!" She demanded.

"Oh, erm -"

"We decided to take Sakura out or dinner and there's so much commotion outside we ended up here on our war back home." Sasuke intervened, calmly replying.

Before Tsunade could reply Sakura had already spoken,

"What's going on over there Tsunade-sama?"

"What?" she hissed.

"Over there, in that huge gathering, what's going on? You just came from over there right?" Sakura asked nodding her head towards the direction Tsunade just came from.

Tsunade was at a loss for words. She immediately tried to put together a sentence but was unable to. Finally taking a deep breath she spoke.

"Sakura, go home. You must be really tired, you shouldn't be out right now-" she began.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" A man bellowed from behind Sakura, cutting off Tsunade's demands. He was with another huge crowd, holding balloons and parcels and cakes, all beaming with smiles and full of excitement. Before they could make it any further they were stopped by security employed for the night.

"Congratulations?" Sakura asked confused, looking over at Sasuke and Karin, who were both supporting a confused look too.

"Yes Congratulations!" A petite, brown haired woman spoke from behind him, "Oh I spent all day baking this cake, for my first few tries I'd burnt it, but I'm so pleased its turned out right!" She exclaimed, bringing out her hand made cake, covered in Orange and Black sugar paste.

"That's beautiful!" Sakura replied, smiling at the woman.

"Forgive me, but what exactly is it for?" She asked, tilting her head a bit.

"What for?! For the celebration of course!" The woman yelled, waving her cake in the air.

"Celebration?" Sakura looked over at Karin and Sasuke, who shrugged their shoulders at her.

"Come on Sakura, we should -" Tsunade started, desperately trying to get her to move, unfortunatley for her, the woman wouldn't stop until the whole room knew.

"Celebration for the engagement of - " She yelled, ecstatically.

"Sakura -" Tsunade tried one last time to prevent Sakura from hearing the following words.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Hinata!" The woman finished, receiving cheers from the crowd.

Tsunade sighed deeply and let go of Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura stood frozen, looking at the woman, smiling brightly back at her.

_The hell? _Karin thought, confused.

_Shit._ Sasuke thought, shutting his eyes,

"En..engag-" Sakura began.

"Sakura-chan?" A familiar voice came from behind her. Sakura's eyes widened, unable to finish her sentence. She gulped and slowly turned around to see the owner of the familiar voice. He had on a formal attire consisting of his usual colours. Black trousers teamed with a black shirt and a black blazer, and complimenting his smart clothing with an orange tie. His hair looked normal, messy, yet prepped, and had grown slightly.

Sakura found herself staring at two cerulean eyes, staring directly back at her emerald ones. Suddenly her earlier feelings of apprehensiveness and worries of being home had returned. She hesitantly opened her mouth,

"Naruto."

* * *

_**OK this took a lot longer than I had planned. Chapter kind of grew itself as I went along. **_

_**I really hope you like this, even though Naruto and Sakura didnt meet till the end, but dont worry! Its a NaruSaku story, so plenty of interaction to come! **_

_**Remember please review!**_

_**Thank you! :)**_


	3. Changes

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 2**

"This is all your fault!" Karin hissed at Sasuke, nudging him with her elbow.

"My fault?_ I'M_ not the one who decided to 'take her out!'" Sasuke whispered back, mimicking Karin's earlier enthusiasm, resulting in Karin narrowing her eyes at him and crossing her arms.

Her green eyes remained locked on the blue ones staring back at her. Neither blinking, in shock.

"Wha-" Naruto started.

"Naruto-kun!" A soft feminine voice came from behind him. She was wearing a white and violet, knee length dress. The top half of the dress was violet and had silver embroidery cast upon it. The frilly pleats that made up the bottom half consisted of white netting, giving it a summery feel. The long sleeves, which supported a single layer of white netting showed off her milky skin. Her hair was put up in an intricate fashion, adding to the elegance of her look.

Upon seeing the pink haired girl in front of Naruto she stopped next to him and joined him in staring blankly at her. With a stutter she spoke,

"S-Sa-Sakura-san?" She asked, her eyebrows raising slightly, displaying her shock.

Sakura's eyes, that were glued so intently on Naruto's flashed to Hinata's clear ones. Despite the obvious beauty the girl radiated, the only thing Sakura noticed was the huge rock occupying her finger. Trying hard not to stare at it Sakura quickly spoke,

"Hinata!" She said, excitedly.

Sasuke and Karin stood silently, their eyes flashing between Sakura and the two individuals standing in front of her. Tsunade stared at Sakura throughout with concern written all over her face.

"Wha-wh-when did you get back?" The dark haired girl asked, moving closer to Naruto.

"A few hours ago! I really did just want to go to bed, but these two dragged me out!" She replied cheerily, lightly punching Sasuke on the arm.

"Sakura-cha-" Naruto tried starting once again.

"I should probably be getting back though, haven't had any sleep yet and I still need to unpack." She said, looking down and scratching her head. She turned around about to leave, with Tsunade ready to follow. Turning to face Naruto and Hinata once again she spoke with a huge smile plastered on her face,

"Oh and Congratulations! I'm really happy for you!" She exclaimed, unconsciously looking directly in to Naruto's eyes. With that she turned around and made her way past the growing number of people and out of the restaurant, followed, hurriedly by Tsunade.

Naruto remained shocked and silent. Staring in the direction of which Sakura had just left.

Sasuke and Karin stayed quiet, looking at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, tugging at his arm, worry evident in her voice. It was enough to get Naruto out of his thoughts and back to reality and his engagement party. He turned to see the girls soft eyes staring up at his, her face so close to his arm.

"Father is asking for you...l...let's go back." she replied, pulling him towards the gathered group at their table.

Naruto nodded slightly and let himself be pulled back by Hinata and disappeared from Sasuke and Karin's sight.

"I'm gonna guess he didn't see us?" Karin asked. "You know with all of this...commotion." she continued waving her hands at the busy restaurant.

"No. He saw us. He just didn't expect to see her." Sasuke answered, looking over at Naruto sitting with Hinata at the table, smiling faintly.

* * *

Sakura walked hurriedly through the brightly lit streets, desperate to get back to the comfort of her home.

"Sakura! Sakura wait!" Tsunade shouted from behind her.

"Tsunade-sama its ok! I can go home myself!" She replied over her shoulder.

"Ok, but wait a second!" Tsunade yelled, demandingly.

Sakura stopped and kept her back to Tsunade, staring out at the street. Tsunade walked slowly up to Sakura and stood in front of her, blocking her view, causing Sakura to look to the floor on her right.

"Sakura." Tsunade spoke quietly and calmly.

"Tsunade-sama please. I'm really tired and I just want to go to bed." Sakura replied, hoping her master would stop.

Tsunade sighed. She didn't want to keep her waiting, knowing full well how tired she really must be. This would have to wait for tomorrow.

"Ok. I want to see you in my office tomorrow morning, 10am sharp." The Hokage replied, stepping to the side allowing Sakura through.

With a quick bow to her master, Sakura, walked off down the road, less hurriedly, knowing she wouldn't have Tsunade on her trail.

She opened the front door and didn't bother turning on the lights. The bright lights from the streets were doing a good job of keeping her house lit. Lazily taking off her shoes and leaving them where they fell she walked into her bedroom, which was bathed in pink light, radiating from the lanterns outside. She didn't bother getting dressed, instead she fell onto her bed and buried her head into her pillow.

_I just need to go to bed and it'll be all fine._ She thought, willing herself to believe it was all just a dream.

She was woken by the sound of a mockingbird chirping loudly by her balcony window. Her head felt heavy and her mouth dry. She got up from her laying position staring at her clock, with her legs dangling off the edge of her bed.

_That was a bad dream. Weird too...It was a dream right? _She thought to herself, her mind confused.

9.00 AM was displayed in green on her black, cuboid clock. She groaned looking at the time and rubbed her eyes. Forcing herself up, she took a much needed shower and slipped into a black skirt and a long sleeved red shirt, similar to her usual one. After eating a quick breakfast, she put on her small blue shoes and made her way out of the apartment.

The streets looked normal, villagers walking about at their usual pace, opening up shops, buying things, taking their children, who were whining, to school. If it weren't for the decorations from the previous night still up, Sakura would've been convinced last night was a dream. Upon seeing the decorations and lights, she remembered the events of last night, but decided to keep them out of her mind and walked along smiling at the passers-by.

Gaara was walking back down the corridor, having already seen the Hokage. He was carrying a huge folder in his hands when he recognised Sakura walking slowly towards him, her head down in thought.

He spoke sternly, "Sakura."

His voice was loud and commanding, she looked up immediately as if she'd been told off. Seeing Gaara brought her a sense of calm and her mood changed quickly.

"Gaara-san!" She greeted him.

"How are you? Have you settled in good?" He inquired, stopping in front of her.

"Mm! Of course I have! This is my village you know!" She joked smiling brightly at him.

"Of course, of course. I suppose you're on your way to see The Godaime about your work then?" He said, acknowledging her answer.

"Yep! She said 10am, I just hope there's not too much to do today. I didn't get much sleep last night..." She said, looking to the floor.

"Why not?" He asked, concerned.

"A-ha ha no reason!" She replied, waving her hands in front of her. "I suppose being home and sleeping in my bed took some getting used to you know? Plus there was alot of noise on the streets too..." She continued, muttering the latter to avoid his hearing.

"Yes, I understand. Kankuro hardly slept at all, he was complaining about the weather and the beds all night, then he began feeling sick again." Gaara replied, rolling his eyes.

"If you'd like, I can come and see him? Check he's alright?" She asked, hopefully, being comfortable in the presence of the three sand siblings, having spent much time with them.

"No that won't be necessary. Tsunade came round this morning and checked him. It's nothing big, she gave him some medicine so he should be ok soon." He answered, looking down at her.

Sakura felt disappointed mixed with relief that Kankuro's sickness wasn't anything of concern.

Noting her change in mood he spoke, "Although you are from this village, it will still take you time to re-settle. If you do feel lonely, you can always come and help us rebuild some buildings, or help with some paper work?" He said, attempting to lift her spirits, gesturing at the unwelcoming folder in his hands.

"Yeah right, like that supposed to make me happy!" She laughed back, a faint smile appearing on Gaara's face.

"You should probably get going to see the Hokage, you know very well how angry she gets if you're late for a meeting." Gaara said moving past Sakura.

"Mmm, yeah you're right." She said nodding. "Have a good day Gaara-san!" She shouted over her shoulder, walking down the corridor.

Upon hearing her he smiled softly and continued walking.

Sakura raised her hand to knock on the door when it suddenly opened and Shizune walked out.

"Ahh Tsunade-sama! She's here!" She shouted back at the room.

"Good Morning Sakura!" She greeted, turning back around.

"Good Morning Shizune-san!" Sakura replied in a similar manner.

"Go on in, Tsunade-sama has been waiting for you!" She smiled, stepping aside letting Sakura in.

"Ahh Sakura! Finally, didn't I say 10am SHARP?! Its 10 past!" She said pointing at the clock.

"Oh sorry Tsunade-sama, I bumped into Gaara-san and got talking." She replied, looking ahead at the seated Hokage.

"Right. Sakura come, sit down." Tsunade commanded, calmly, gesturing to the chair positioned in front of her desk.

_Sit down? She's even put a chair there! This must be something important._ She thought to herself, closing the door and making her way to the chair.

Once they were both settled, Tsunade spoke,

"How are you feeling?" she asked, looking at Sakura worryingly.

Seeing the worry on her Hokage's face Sakura smiled widely,

"Great! I feel so good! I just needed some time to rest that's all!" She replied shrugging her shoulders.

"And about what happened last night...?" Tsunade questioned, staring at Sakura, warily.

_Oh, so THAT'S what she wanted to talk about._ Sakura thought, frowning.

"What about it?" She replied, looking out of the window to her right and crossing her arms.

"Well how do feel about it?" she asked, calmly, containing her frustration, knowing this was a sensitive subject for her apprentice.

"Fine." Sakura answered, not giving anything away.

Tsunade let out a loud sigh, "This wasn't supposed to happen. Not like this." She said, leaning back in her chair, looking up to the ceiling.

Curious to know what she meant, Sakura looked back over to Tsunade, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that it's not exactly the coming home present people expect!" She replied, maintaining her gaze at the roof.

"I suppose I can't blame Sasuke or Karin neither, no one knew. They kept this surprise from everyone, including me." She continued.

Sakura looked to the floor and didn't speak. She didn't want to continue this conversation any longer, and would much rather talk about her purpose for returning to the village.

"So, what's going on with my task?" She asked, looking up at Tsunade, cheerfully.

Noticing her discomfort around this topic, Tsunade complied with Sakura's question.

Looking down at her she replied, "Well there's alot more paperwork than I expected. Not only here in my office, but back at the hospital too, so we're just gathering all that right now. There isn't really much for you to do right now, so I advise you to have a rest day today."

"A rest day?" Sakura questioned, trying to block out the gathering paperwork headed her way.

"Yes. Go and pamper yourself at the spa, catch up with friends, go shopping, un pack. You know settle in." She answered.

"Oh right." Sakura said. "Yeah that would be nice." She continued, having not done much the night before, except meet Sasuke and Karin.

"You can leave now." Tsunade commanded.

Sakura got up and walked over to the door, she had just got a hold of the door knob when Tsunade spoke loudly behind her,

"You should also speak to_ him_."

Sakura froze, listening intently to her master, her back facing her.

"I'm sure you've both got plenty to talk about, and there's no point in taking part in training if your mind is elsewhere." Tsunade continued, eyes remaining at Sakura's back. After no immediate response from Sakura, she continued,

"Besides, I'm sure you've got your own news to tell him too."

The sentence confused Sakura. Her eyebrows arched downwards and her mind started racing, trying to work out what she meant.

Before she could question it, she was ordered out the door.

_What did she mean by that? What news?_ She thought to herself, head down in thought, walking out the building.

She was walking by a jewellery shop, admiring the different coloured gems laid out in front of her when she felt a hand come up to her shoulder. She jumped by the sudden contact and turned around to see a dark haired girl standing before her.

A gasp left Sakura's lips before she spoke,

"Hi-Hinata!" Sakura replied, shocked. Last nights' events ,that she tried so hard to forget and had just managed to avoid discussing with Tsunade, came flooding back. They both stood staring at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Sakura-san." Hinata spoke. "Could we please talk?" She asked, nervously.

Sakura knew perfectly well what she wanted to talk about. She didn't want to herself. She'd much rather say no and carry on blissfully blocking out certain events, but she knew she'd have to talk to her at one point.

She looked into the milky white eyes of the Hyuga Princess, and smiled cheerfully.

"Of course Hinata!" She replied, gesturing to the bench on the opposite side of the road.

The bench was located in the shade of the buildings near it. Sakura sat down at one end and Hinata at the other, both relishing at the cool breeze encircling them.

After a few minutes of silence, Hinata spoke,

"I'm so sorry about last night." She said, looking over at Sakura, who looked to her left back at Hinata in confusion.

"Last night? Sorry? Are you apologising for your engagement party?" She inquired, unsure of what the girl meant.

"N-No no, w-well yes. I mean, it wasn't-you shouldn't have found out the way you did." She explained, "And I apologise for that!" She continued, nervously looking up at Sakura.

Sakura's eyebrows softened and a small sigh left her mouth. She turned back around facing forward, looking at the ground in front of her.

"There's no need to apologise for that Hinata!" She spoke, smiling.

Her tone of voice was so warm and inviting, it eased Hinata, who also returned to looking ahead at the street.

"H-How did this, erm, how did you two...you know...get together?" She questioned, hesitantly.

After a minute or so of silence Hinata spoke, "It was a year ago, during an attack." She said beginning to play with the ends of her jacket.

"I had completed a mission and given my report to Tsunade-sama and was on my way home when there was this loud explosion, and the ground started to shake. Villagers were all panicking and I was so scared. I didn't know what was going on, there was so much commotion and then out of nowhere three men appeared in front of me." She explained, with Sakura now turned staring at Hinata, fully invested in the story.

"Before I could do anything, I felt a strong weight hit my chest and I was on the floor. They had already begun attacking me. I had only managed to look up and I saw them all cha..charging towards me." She continued, choking on her words. Sakura knew these where troubling memories for the girl to re-live. She was about to stop her when Hinata cleared her throat and continued.

"I had shut my eyes for a second and I suddenly saw _him_ in front of me." She said with a faint smile.

_Naruto _ Sakura thought, her eyes lowering and faint smile also appearing on her face, as she turned back round.

"Naruto-kun saved me. He went so far to save me. He was beaten up so much by those men, but he didn't stop. Not until they surrendered. He was hurt badly, and still he asked if**_I_** was ok." She said, smiling widely at the floor.

_That idiot _Sakura thought, inwardly chuckling and faintly shaking her head.

"After that we got closer as I nursed him back to health..." she continued, now more hesitant. The faint smile on Sakura's face had faded and her thoughts returned to the main reason for the story.

"A-and, I, I guess it just happened." Hinata started, "We began spending more time together, and meeting up..." She continued, burying herself further in the bench.

"It..it wasn't planned! Honest...I.." She began trying to justify her actions.

Sakura looked up at Hinata with a soft smile.

"Come on now Hinata! Why are you saying such things!" She started. "I completely understand. What he did was so courageous, and so Naruto-like. I'm glad you told me everything." She finished, standing up.

"W-Wait Sakura-san!" Hinata spoke, standing up too.

"Are you ok...with..." She began, being cut off my Sakura's quick response,

"Hinata, I'm fine. Everything is fine. I do hope you won't feel uneasy around me. I mean it. I am happy for you." She stated, turning around and smiling at the girl. Hinata's shoulders relaxed and a smile similar to Sakura's appeared on her face too.

"Well I've got some shopping to do now!" Sakura said, walking past Hinata. "Have a nice day Hinata!" She shouted, waving at the still standing girl.

"Yes you too Sakura-san!" Hinata shouted back, mimicking a wave of her own. Hinata kept looking at the direction Sakura had walked down, when she saw a faint figure appear from the corner, turning into the street, walking towards her end of the street. Hinata immediately turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, quickly, away from the approaching figure. She lowered her head, clutching her hands together in front of her, and shutting her eyes tightly.

_It's the right choice. I'm doing the right thing._ She said to herself.

Sakura was still reeling from what Hinata had just told her. She decided to take a different route back home, a longer one, allowing her more time to think. It was a route that, she had hoped, wouldn't cause her to cross paths with a certain blond.

* * *

"Where Hinata?" Sasuke asked walking into Naruto's apartment.

"Oh, she said she needed to go see her sister or something!" Naruto yelled down the hall.

"Right. So, that was quite a big surprise you sprung on everyone Naruto." Sasuke said slumping down on the couch in Naruto's apartment.

Naruto emerged from his bedroom, his hand ruffling his hair. He looked as if he hadn't had much sleep as he fell on the couch next to his best friend.

"Yeah. Well if you'd had met me on time, I would've told you." He replied, staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah sorry about that. Mixed up the timings." Sasuke said, looking at the table in front of him.

Naruto maintained his gaze upwards, not responding. Sasuke broke the silence by wasting no time in questioning his friends decision,

"So marriage huh?" He asked, looking over at him. Naruto didnt move. He simply nodded.

"How did this come about then?" He inquired, trying to get a reaction out of the blond.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto replied, eyes still fixated on the ceiling.

"Well was it your decision?" Sasuke questioned.

"Wha-of-of course it was my decision! What kind of a question is that?!" Naruto responded, angrily, getting up and walking to the kitchen.

"Oh yeah? So how comes you'd never spoken of anything like this before? Not for the year and a bit you've been with her, and then after you have lunch with her father, you're suddenly engaged." Sasuke said, also getting up and walking near the dining table.

Naruto stopped moving around pots and pans aimlessly. He bent his head down, looking at the floor. Sasuke gathered it wasn't his decision alone for the young couple to get married.

"I'm guessing Hiashi had something to do with this then?" Sasuke asked, leaning against the table.

"Hey answer me then!" He shouted, running impatient with the blonds lack of compliance.

"We had lunch and spoke about things and he made some good points..." Naruto muttered.

"Good points? You mean he convinced you to marry his daughter and you said yes!" Sasuke summed up.

"No he didnt. I'm doing the right thing Sasuke. Don't lecture me about my decision." Naruto replied sternly, facing the Uchiha.

Silence fell between the two friends. Both standing not knowing what to say. Naruto turned around, moving things around once again, with no actual aim. Sasuke stood watching him, knowing there was something troubling the boy.

Finally Naruto stopped making a racket with the dishes. Holding the counter with his arms stretched out, he spoke,

"W-why is she back?" He asked, quietly.

The Uchiha smirked, "I take it you're talking about Sakura?" He replied, walking back over to the couch.

"Hm." Was all Sasuke heard from him.

"Tsunade-sama needs someone to train new medics and she's the only one capable." He replied nonchalantly.

"Oh. So she's back for good then..?" Naruto inquired, hesitantly.

"I dunno about that." He said, looking over his shoulder at Naruto and continued, "Why...?"

"No reason. I was just asking that's all." He replied quickly moving to the fridge and getting out two bottles of drink. He walked over to Sasuke and handed him a bottle before sitting on the couch, adjacent to the one Sasuke occupied.

"I wonder what she thinks of all this." Sasuke sighed.

"I don't care." Naruto remarked, looking at the wall opposite him.

Sasuke jerked his head around to look at him. "Yes you do."

"No I don't." Naruto replied, unnerved by the Uchiha's gaze.

"Then why aren't you out celebrating your engagement? Or even boasting to me how happy you are and how you're marrying the love of your life then?" Sasuke questioned, tilting his head with a slight smirk.

"Because I-" Naruto began, only to be cut off by a quick response from Sasuke.

"I'll tell you why. It's because you didnt expect to see her again. She'd left without a word and you blocked her out completely. And now she's back and she'll be walking around the village, just like before, probably bumping into you two and you don't know what to do." He finished, drinking his drink.

"Wha-what the hell? I-I never said that!" Naruto stammered.

"You didnt _need_ to say it. Its written all over you face." Sasuke replied.

Naruto sighed loudly, "Why would I care about what she thinks!? She's got an engagement of her own to think about!" He yelled at the dark haired boy near him.

"Ahh! So that's what this is about then?" Sasuke asked, finally getting to the root of Naruto's anger.

"Makes sense too! She's engaged and suddenly you are too!" Sasuke finished sitting up straighter, eyes opened, mind working quick trying to piece things together.

Naruto shut his eyes tight, looking down in anger,

"No! That's not the reason!" He shouted back at Sasuke.

"I care about Hinata. And she loves me just the way I am. A-and I want to make her happy." He said, quietly, calming down.

"What about yourself?" Sasuke asked in a more calm, sensitive tone.

After a short silence between the two Naruto spoke,

"As long as _she's_ happy then so am I." He declared.

"Who?" Sasuke muttered under his breath, questioning the sincerity in Naruto's declaration.

"What?" Naruto asked, not quite catching what he said.

"You should go talk to Sakura. Get this out of your system." He advised, leaning forward.

"What makes you think I WANT to talk to her?" Naruto asked looking down.

"Because that's the only thing you've been thinking about since I arrived. Plus you've been messing about with things in the kitchen for no reason and you haven't even touched your bottle, it's a sign that your mind's somewhere else." He finished nodding at the untouched bottle sitting on the table.

Naruto quirked his eyebrows up at Sasuke, looking at him suspiciously.

"Since when did you become so good at reading body language?" He asked.

"Since Karin started reading into it. She says she wants to be able to read people by looking at them so she can see how her students are feeling without actually asking them. It all sounds stupid to me, but it makes her happy, so whatever." Sasuke replied shrugging his shoulders.

Naruto chuckled getting up from his seat and walking towards the door, he turned around and looked over at his friend,

"I'm gonna go then. Get this over with and I need to go see Hiashi anyways. Make sure you lock the door before leaving. And leave soon! You scared the hell out of Hinata the last time, lounging about on the couch as if you lived here!" Naruto shouted at him, slamming the door shut behind him and making his way outside, with the intention of finding a certain pink haired girl.

* * *

It was hot summer day, the Sun was now high up in the sky, with no cloud coverage to shelter the village form its intense gaze. Sakura walked past a small shop, selling ice-creams and cold drinks. She thought of going in, but upon seeing the scores of people there with at least one companion, she decided against it. She was a few steps ahead of the shop when a voice suddenly caught her attention,

"Are you trying to avoid me?" he asked.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Eyes widening at the loud, male voice. She didn't expect this. She didn't expect him.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she spoke, "Why do you say that?" she replied, slowly turning around to see the tall blonds wide blue eyes staring at her.

"This isn't your normal route home." He said, slowly walking towards her.

She scoffed, "It's been 2 years, things change." She said noting his closeness. She took a step back and spoke looking him sternly, "_People_ change." She said, emphasising her words.

Her words made him stop moving closer, keeping a foot between them. He nervously looked around and then up at the sky,

"Ah! It's such a hot day today!" He said in his usual upbeat tone, breaking the silence.

"Mmm, its nothing. Not compared to Suna at least." She replied, looking around.

"Come on, let's get something to drink!" He exclaimed looking back over his shoulder at the small shop.

"Nnn..No, I have a lot of w-" She started, nervously looking at the shop herself.

"Come on Sakura-chan. Just one drink. You're gonna get dehydralated!" He spoke matter-of-fact like, walking to the shop.

"Urgh, its dehyDRATED!" she said staying where she was with her arms crossed.

Naruto had walked over to the nearby bench and sat down. He turned to see Sakura unmoved.

"Your gonna stand there? Alright then, I'll just have to shout. So SAKURA-CHAN HOW-" he began shouting, earning annoyed looks from the surrounding customers.

"Shut up!" Sakura responded, in a hushed tone. She quickly walked towards the bench, her head down, embarrassed by the looks people where giving and sat opposite him.

"Geez Naruto, don't you care there are other people here too?" She asked looking at him through her bangs.

He was sitting smiling widely at her. "Nope!" He replied, his smile unwavering. The waiter arrived and asked for their order.

"I'll have the fizziest thing you've got! And for Sakura-chan some Iced te-" He started, remembering her favourite cool drink.

"Actually I'll have some lemon water please." She cut in, smiling at the waiter. The waiter nodded and disappeared leaving the two alone again.

"Lemon water? What about-" he began again, confused by her choice of drink.

"You shouldn't drink such unhealthy stuff Naruto. Ordering the fizziest drink they have! Lemon water is healthy and tastes much better." She declared, her head tilted upwards, with her nose in the air. Naruto smiled looking down, she had always pestered him about being unhealthy, and it didn't change even after two years.

Silence once again settled between them. It was more obvious and awkward, thanks to the loud chatter and laughter resonating around them.

Sakura looked up at Naruto, who was looking down at his hands, fidgeting. She rolled her eyes, annoyed by the fact that he'd initiated this meeting, attempting to shout down the road to have a conversation, and now that she was in front of him he'd gone mute.

"So how have you been? " She asked quietly.

"Oh yeah yeah, I've been good! What about yourself?" He replied, looking at her.

"Yeah yeah, same." She mimicked. Silence befalling once again.

"I heard you're going to be training the new medics?" Naruto finally spoke, trying to get the conversation going.

"Mm yeah! It's going to be tough, but I'm up for it!" She said grinning widely.

Naruto smiled softly upon seeing her determination not having wavered.

When their drinks arrived she took a small sip of hers and began speaking,

"I know what you want to talk about." She said, running her forefinger around the ridge of her glass.

He was shocked by her directness, but kept his glass to his mouth, chugging down the drink.

"But all I've got to say is, I meant what I said." She continued, staring at his eyes, hard.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He put his glass down and wiped away any excess drink left on his lips.

"Wha-?" He began.

"That I'm happy for you. I bumped into Hinata earlier, and she told me everything. How you saved her and everything, as expected from you. She spoke really highly of you, obviously considering she's your fiancée!" She joked.

Naruto didn't respond to her laughter. He looked down at his drink, realising Sakura already knew of everything from Hinata.

"And what about you?" He asked, in a serious voice, still looking down. She remained silent, confused by his questioned. Noting she didn't answer, he looked up and continued,

"What about you and your fiancé?" he asked staring down, heavily at her.

Her smile dropped and her eyes widened with disbelief, unmoving from his gaze. She was shocked by his question.

"Fi-fiancé?!" She stuttered.

"Yes, your fiancé in Suna." He replied, shedding less light on the subject.

"Wha-how-" She stammered, before calming herself and clearing her throat.

"Who told you that?" She demanded, curious to know the origins of this assumption.

"Sai did." He replied, taking a sip of his drink.

_SAI! _ Sakura growled, inwardly.

"Wha-" She began, ready to clear this up, only for Naruto to continue.

"That time when he visited Suna. He came back and told me that you where engaged and really happy." He said, keeping his eyes down and staring at her still full glass.

_That was three months ago! He's thought I've been engaged for three months? _She thought to herself, still confused.

"I'll admit I was really surprised when he told me. I always thought you'd get married to someone from here. From OUR village." He said, saddened by his own words.

"Naruto-I-" She began, wanting to clear this up.

"Naruto." A cold, stern voice came from behind them, startling the two. Naruto turned around and Sakura looked up to see a tall man with long dark hair cascading down.

"Hiashi-san!" Sakura spoke.

"Haruno Sakura. When did you get back?" He demanded, his gaze piercing into her.

"J-just yesterday." She replied, hesitantly. How could a man so strict and cold, who could make anyone feel uneasy around him, have a daughter like Hinata, so gentle and warm. Sakura thought this many times, when she'd had to make idle chat with the man, during major events held in Konoha.

"Indeed. So this is where you ended up Naruto? I have been waiting for half an hour now." He said, turning his sharp eyes at the blond.

"Oh right yeah. I forgot!" Naruto replied, scratching the back of his head, smiling widely at the man.

"Mmm, I can see that. Come along. We have much to discuss." He commanded walking off.

Naruto nodded and got up.

"Erm, I'll see you around then Sakura-chan?" He asked, unsure.

"Err-y-yeah. Yeah! See you around. Good Luck with...you know.." She said, nodding her head towards Hiashi's direction.

With a faint smile, Naruto left and walked down the road towards Hiashi, leaving Sakura with her glass full of Lemon Tea. She stared down at the spot in front of her where Naruto was just sitting and felt a feeling of loneliness. Her eyes wandered to her drink and she grimaced,

"Urgh, I don't even like Lemon Tea." She said pushing her glass away. She left change on the bench for the waiter to take and continued her journey towards the markets.

_Damn that Sai. I'll kill him when I see him. Saying I'm engaged. Idiot. What did I do to even make him think that?_ Sakura thought to herself.

She sighed loudly and finally made her way to a fruit stall on the right. She was greeted by a tall, round man with a booming voice,

"Sakura-san!" He yelled walking towards her and embracing her.

"I heard you were back but I just couldn't believe it!" He exclaimed, letting her free.

"Daichi-san! It's so good to see you!" Sakura replied, smiling widely at him, glad to know she was missed.

"My most loyal customer is back! I have so many new varieties for you to buy now!" He yelled, turning around and pointing at the crates of fruit.

_Oh. So that's why you missed me._ She thought frowning.

After buying more fruit than she had wanted she continued roaming the streets, casually stopping to admire the variety of things put on display.

She was crouching down, admiring the colourful flowers on display, that she hadn't noticed the familiar shop to which they belonged.

"Oi, you know you're supposed to buy them right? This aint some sort of flower-gazing library." A female voice yelled from her right.

Sakura rolled her eyes and stood up, immediately recognising the voice. She straightened up and turned to see a slender looking girl, with long bleached blonde hair tied up in her usual ponytail.

"Ino." Sakura acknowledged in a serious tone.

"Sakura." Ino mimicked.

After a few seconds of glaring at each other with a straight face, they both began laughing loudly.

"Sakura!" Ino greeted hugging her.

"Ino!" Sakura hugged her back.

"I heard you were back, I just couldn't believe it!" She exclaimed, releasing her.

"Well here I am!" Sakura said, gesturing to herself.

"Come on in! We've got lots to talk about!" Ino said, pulling her by the arm towards the shop.

Ino led her to the break room in the back of the shop, seating her by the circular table and making them tea.

"So Sakura! Tell me how you've been!" Ino said, getting out cups from the cupboard in front of her.

"I've been good! Suna is a beautiful place and the people are amazing too. So welcoming!" Sakura replied, playing with the mats on the table.

"And the work?" Ino asked, handing Sakura her cup and sitting near her.

"Ahh the work is intense! Long hours and_ lots_ of paperwork! I guess that's why Tsunade-sama asked me back!" Sakura joked, sipping her tea.

"Mmm, yeah I heard why you were back. Such a terrible thing that happened huh?" Ino said, drinking her tea and looking to the floor.

"Yeah it is." Sakura replied, quietening. After a few seconds of silence she attempted to change the mood,

"But, now I'm here and I'll try my best to train as many medics as I can, oh and Gaara-san, Temari-san and Kankuro-san are here too, working with the village, helping to repair the damage. And Tsunade-sama seems to be making progress with talking to the other countries, so things are looking up!" Sakura cheerfully added.

"Yeah you're right! Things are getting much better!" Ino joined in.

"So tell me. Why exactly aren't _you_ able to help in the training then?" Sakura questioned, narrowing her eyes at her best friend.

"Huh?!" Ino asked, shocked.

"I asked Tsunade-sama and she said you had other things to attend to... So what's this mysterious thing that is keeping you?" Sakura replied, taking the girl out of her confusion.

"Ohhh. That's what you meant." Ino said, standing up walking towards the backdoor on the left, leading away from the main shop.

_What the hell did she think I meant?_ Sakura thought, now confusing herself.

"Hey get in here for a second will you?" Ino shouted out the door.

Sakura put down her cup and leaned up to see who Ino was calling.

"Shi-Shikamaru!" Sakura exclaimed, eyes wide and mouth open, as he walked in carrying a blue bundle in his hands.

"Ahh Sakura! Ino was right, you are back!" He greeted.

Ino walked behind him smiling widely at Sakura, who was now out of her seat, eyes flashing back and forth from Ino to Shikamaru to the wound up fabric in his hands.

"Hey Sakura, say hi to little Akihiko!" Ino whispered, taking the bundle lightly from Shikamaru walking towards Sakura.

An awestruck Sakura looked at the bundle with eyes wide open, upon seeing the little baby in Ino's arms her mouth dropped.

"I-it-it's a baby!" She shouted, quickly being hushed by both Ino and Shikamaru.

Her hands shot to her mouth, both to quieten herself and indicate her shock.

"Of course it is! It's _our_ baby!" Ino said proudly, swaying with her baby in her arms, smiling down at him.

"Your baby? But when I left you'd just got married!" Sakura said, again too loudly.

"Will you lower your voice a bit? And yeah we did, that was _2 years ago_ Sakura!" Ino replied, swaying with the baby more, careful not to awaken him.

"Right, right. Sorry, it's just a surprise." Sakura said, looking down at the baby.

"Here hold him." Ino insisted, coming closer to Sakura.

"M-me?" Sakura hesitated. Ino nodded and carefully handed the baby over to Sakura, positioning him in her arms to keep him comfortable.

Sakura looked down at the baby speechless, a smile forming on her face and her eyes softening.

"He's beautiful." She declared looking over at the radiating parents to her left.

"Right? He gets that from me - obviously." Ino joked, smirking, earning a nudge from Shikamaru and Sakura rolling her eyes.

When she handed the baby back to Shikamaru, who disappeared to the backroom again, Sakura and Ino returned to the table, to their empty cups.

"I'd never have guessed you just had a baby!" Sakura said, noting her slender figure.

"Mmm, I know right! My mum was saying the same thing. When I had him, all the weight just disappeared! But it's not like I put alot on anyways." She said, taking the cups to the sink.

_Yeah, lucky for some._ Sakura thought looking down at the table.

"I guess you really can't help out with training then!" Sakura joked as Ino continued cleaning the counter.

"Exactly!" Ino laughed back. When she'd finished cleaning she turned around and walked over to sit back down,

"So, what about yourself? What have _you_ been getting up to?" She said, smirking.

"Err...not much...what do you mean?" Sakura replied, reclining back in her chair.

"Well, I've heard you've been quite busy!?" Ino exclaimed, raising her eyebrows, keeping the smirk on her face.

"Oh right! Yeah of course I have! Training new medics isn't easy! I mean, it took ages to train you!" Sakura replied, smirking back at the girl, knowing this would annoy her.

Ino's mischievous expression was gone and was now glaring at Sakura,

"Shut the hell up! It didnt take long at all! I was trained and ready in practically a day!" She yelled, exaggerating her words, causing Sakura to start laughing.

"Anyways, I wasn't talking about _that _kind of busy! I heard you' re engaged!" She shrieked, clapping her hands together.

"Oh that again." Sakura replied, leaning against the table with her left arm.

"What do you mean again? Come on! Tell me everything! Who is he? Is he here with you? How tall is he? What's his name?" Ino interrogated.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Stop! There nothing to tell, because I'm not engaged! I'm not even with anyone!" Sakura replied, sighing.

"What!? No, no Sai said-" Ino began, confused.

"Urgh, Sai! Who else has that idiot been telling this to?!" Sakura shouted banging the table.

"Wha- so you're NOT engaged?" Ino asked, saddened, earning a shake of the head from Sakura.

"And you're NOT with anyone either?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Well, this is...disappointing." Ino sighed, frowning.

"Disappointing?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah! I was so excited to know you were engaged! I mean, it took me a while to get my head around the fact that it was YOU who was engaged, but still, I was so looking forward to seeing the guy who decided to take you on!" Ino answered, unaware of the annoyed look forming on Sakura's face.

_She's justifying her answer by insulting me. _She thought to herself, getting fed up of Sai's lies.

"Yeah well, it seems that Naruto thinks I'm engaged too." Sakura sighed, after calming her anger.

"Naruto!?" Ino gasped. "You've seen him?"

"Yeah. About an hour ago-ish. Well, technically I saw him yesterday..." Sakura said, rubbing her chin.

"Oh right. So...you know about him and Hinata then?" Ino questioned, nervously looking at Sakura.

"Yeah." Sakura answered, looking out the door to the shop floor.

"And? You're ok with it?" Ino continued, looking at Sakura worryingly.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that!? Of course I'm ok with it! Why shouldn't I be!?" Sakura shouted looking back at her best friend.

"Alright alright! Calm down! Just asking! Geez didnt know you were that ok with them dating!" Ino replied, waving her arms in front of her.

"Wait what? No Ino, they're engaged." Sakura stated, looking at her friend in confusion.

"ENGAGED?!" Ino yelled back, shocked.

"Wha-when?!" She demanded.

"Yesterday. Actually that's when I saw them first. Kinda walked into their engagement party." Sakura answered, shaking her head, not wanting to relive the memories.

"Wow! I did not see that coming!" Ino replied, looking out the window in disbelief.

"Yeah..."

"Hm, now I really _should_ ask you if you're ok with it!" Ino joked looking over at Sakura, her smirk returning.

"Mmm, you could ask...if you'd like your shop destroyed." Sakura replied, grinning at her friend, threateningly.

Ino scoffed, looking to the floor, shaking her head, "Same old Sakura!" she said, earning laughter from Sakura.

* * *

When she left the shop and promised to visit again, Sakura noticed most of the shops beginning to pack up. Not realising it, she had spent most of the day with Ino and it was now close to sunset.

_Damn, all I've brought is fruit. I haven't got anything else to eat!_ She thought, looking down at the bag in her hand, annoyed at herself.

_Oh well, just have to make do I suppose. _She sighed, now taking a detour and continuing her journey home. When she turned the corner to her road, she was greeted by many villagers busily working around the street. They had returned to the previous nights work of putting up lights and decorations.

She's walked up to her front door, "What's going on now?!" She said out loudly, to herself.

"It's for the celebration." An old man nearby replied, startling Sakura, who hadn't noticed she'd spoken openly, nor did she expect a reply.

She turned around to see her neighbour standing at the foot of his front door, hands in his pockets, also looking at the busy villagers.

"Mitsuo-san!" Sakura said, surprised by the fact that her neighbour had never spoken to her before, and now suddenly answered her.

With no greeting from him she attempted to continue their conversation, "You mean the engagement celebration?" she questioned, earning a nod from the old man.

"But wasn't that yesterday?" She asked, confused.

"No. They were preparing yesterday, as they are today. The celebration isn't until a week." He answered, his annoyance at the villagers visible.

"Oh. I see. Geez, couldn't they do it down another road, what's so special about this one?" She muttered the latter, thinking he'd not heard.

"This road is the widest. More space for a celebration I suppose. Plus it's in direct view of the Hokage tower, so that probably played a big part." He explained nodding at the tower before turning around, walking back into his home and closing the door behind him.

Sakura remained standing at her doorstep, looking around at the busy villagers.

Upon seeing the orange lanterns being put up, her thoughts wandered to Naruto.

She sighed a heavy sigh. She knew this wasn't something she could escape. Not now that the whole village would be celebrating his engagement, right on her doorstep.

* * *

_**Here's another, longer**_** chapter!**

_**Please Review!**_

_**Thank you! :)**_


	4. Clarification

_**Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm so glad this story is received well! I never expected it to get any attention really, just like my one-shot too! The reviews for that were a complete surprise! So thank you, especially for the constructive criticism ones, they really help a lot! **_

_**Enjoy :)**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The paperwork was delivered to her early in the day. Sakura was sitting at the kitchen table, making her way through the piles on paper when she heard a knock at her front door. She went to open it and was greeted by a familiar, red-headed woman.

"Morning!" Karin greeted, tilting her head to the side.

"Ahh Karin! Good morning! Come in!" Sakura replied, stepping to the side.

Karin stepped in and followed Sakura to the kitchen, taking a seat opposite her.

"How are you?" She asked.

Sakura nodded, keeping her eyes down on the work in front of her.

"I'm good. All the paperwork from the hospital arrived at 8am this morning! 8 AM! I was hoping to lie in a bit, but there's so much to do, so I might as well start as fast as I can." She said, sighing.

"Right.." Karin replied, eyeing the work."Listen, I wanna say sorry about the other night. It wasn't supposed to end up like that..." Karin continued, rubbing her forehead.

"Ah, it's ok! Don't worry about that. I spoke to Hinata and Naruto a few days ago and things are all cleared up!" Sakura replied, cheerfully, returning to her work.

"What? You spoke to them? Both?!" Karin questioned.

"Yeah, well actually they kind of ambushed me when I was trying to do some shopping." She replied, grimacing.

Karin chuckled, "So you've talked it through with them?" She asked.

"Yeah! Kind of... Look everything is fine! I told them it doesn't matter, I'm ok with it and everything's all cleared up!" Sakura replied, looking up at Karin, smiling.

"Everything? So you've spoken to him about your engagement too?" Karin added.

"Wait what?! _You_ know about that too?!" Sakura asked, shocked.

"Yeah! Of course I do!" Karin replied, smiling at the girl.

"I can't believe it to be honest! Nor can Sasuke-kun! We-" She began.

"Sasuke-kun knows too?!" Sakura shouted.

"Well, yeah obviously! I told him the second I found out myself!" Karin replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Ahh man! This is so bad! How many more people know?!" Sakura said, putting the work on the table and standing up.

"I dunno. Why? You want to keep this quiet?" Karin asked, slyly. "Do you guys wanna have a secret wedding? In a secluded spot? Somewhere in the mountains, or-" She continued gasping at the ideas forming in her head.

"What? No! Karin! I'm not engaged! At all!" Sakura yelled, snapping Karin out of her daze.

"WHAT?! What do you mean you're _not _engaged?!" She demanded, eyes glued to the rosette.

"I mean, that I'm not getting married, to anyone, at all! I haven't met anyone either! It's that damn Sai! He got the impression that I was engaged, and now he's been running his mouth off to god knows who!" Sakura explained, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed.

The confusion in Karin's eyes was visible. She looked to the floor, trying to understand all that Sakura had announced.

"Right. So you're not engaged. And there's no wedding anytime soon, and it was all a lie." She summed up, with a simple 'Hm' from Sakura, acknowledging her answer.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do with that new dress I brought?!" Karin yelled, off-topic.

Sakura looked up, annoyed and confused at the girl.

"What? Your whining about... A DRESS?!" She demanded, through gritted teeth.

"Hey! It was an expensive dress, and Sasuke-kun kind of doesn't know that I brought it...yet...so I was gonna surprise him at your wedding..." Karin replied, guiltily.

"Well you _can_ still wear it. Haven't you forgotten there _is_ a wedding coming up." Sakura replied, dryly walking back to her chair.

Karin felt the tinge of hurt in her voice. She looked over at Sakura and spoke quietly.

"So, did you clear this up with him too?" She asked.

Sakura shook her head, looking up and through the window opposite her.

"No. I couldn't. He didnt give me a chance to and then Hiashi-san interrupted us." Sakura replied.

"Oh right. So what are you going to do?"

Sakura sighed deeply, "I am going to get some of this paperwork out of the way and visit the hospital, then I need to go do some shopping, because yesterday was a failure, and then I'm gonna go find Sai and kill him." Sakura replied, cheerfully smiling and shrugging at her threat.

Karin laughed nervously, "Heh, err sounds like a productive day for you then?!" She said, standing up, noticing Sakura's avoidance of her question.

"It will be once I get a hold of Sai!" Sakura replied, clenching her fist. "You're leaving?!" She asked, noticing Karin rising from her seat and walking towards the door.

"Yeah, I'm teaching at the academy in an hour, but I need to go see Tsunade-sama first. I'll see you round yeah?" Karin replied, opening the front door.

"Yeah, Have a nice day! See you soon!" Sakura yelled, closing the door.

* * *

"Hinata!" Naruto bellowed down the hallway, "Your dad's here!"

Hinata came rushing out of the bathroom holding her damp hair, having had her morning shower. "Good morning father!" She greeted taking a seat next to Naruto, on the couch adjacent to her father.

"Morning." Was his stern reply to his daughter, his coldness causing Naruto to frown.

"So what can we do for you Hiashi-san?" Naruto asked.

"I just wanted to see how the two of you are getting on." He replied, eyes moving from one to the other, pausing each time."I also wanted to give you this." He continued, pulling out two pieces of paper.

"Oh tickets?!" Hinata gasped, happily taking them from her father's hands.

"Yes. They are tickets to go see a musical." He answered, getting up from his seat.

"A musical...?" Naruto frowned, slumping in the couch.

"Yes, Naruto. A musical. Take it as an early engagement present if you want." Hiashi replied, reaching the front door, hurriedly followed by Hinata.

"Th-thank you father!" She exclaimed, bowing to her father, smiling warmly.

"No need for that Hinata. I just hope the two of you enjoy the day, together." He said, looking at both Naruto and Hinata sternly.

"Y-yes! Of course we will! Right Naruto-kun?" Hinata responded, looking over at Naruto, who was peering over his shoulder at the father and daughter.

"Yeah, sure. I haven't really got anything to do all day so-" He began, getting up.

"That's great. Enjoy your day." Hiashi interrupted, opening the door and leaving swiftly.

"Geez, what's wrong with him?" Naruto questioned, stretching.

"Father is a really busy man. I'm sure he's got other things to attend to." Hinata replied, looking down at the tickets.

Seeing the girl staring at the tickets, lost in her thoughts, he expressed his concern.

"Hinata? What's wrong?" He asked, walking towards the girl, who was startled by the sound of his voice, as if she thought she was alone and immediately began smiling.

"Ah no no! It's nothing! I'm going to go get dressed then we can leave!" She replied, walking down the hall to the bedroom, leaving Naruto standing alone in their living room, wondering what was bothering the girl.

* * *

"Good Afternoon Sakura-san!" A brown haired girl greeted Sakura at the front reception desk of the hospital.

"Good afternoon...erm..?" She laughed nervously, not recognising the girl.

"Oh right, sorry! I am Natsume Aso, your new assistant!" She said smiling cheerfully.

"Assistant...?" Sakura replied, unaware that she had one.

"Yes, by request of Tsunade-sama! I shall help you as best as I can with anything you need!" She answered, bowing slightly.

"I see, anything I need huh?" She muttered slyly, so the girl couldn't hear. "That's great! Shall we go then?" Sakura asked, smiling warmly at the girl, immediately making her feel comfortable.

"Yes, of course. Erm, your office remains the same as it was before." Natsume told, walking towards the office door and opening it for Sakura, gesturing for her to enter it.

"Ahh it hasn't changed a bit!" Sakura proclaimed, walking over to her desk and placing down the folders in her hand. The room remained as Sakura had remembered. The dark, mahogany, desk was on the right hand side of the room, with a large grey cabinet behind it on its left. Opposite was a white sink with some identically white cabinets. A white bed was to the right of her desk, near a wide window, overlooking most of Konoha.

"Sakura-san, I will leave you to settle in, if there is anything you need please let me know." Natsume spoke walking towards the door.

"Ahh, actually there is something." Sakura said, spotting an opportunity."It's nothing work related really, but I didnt get much shopping in last night, so if you could run and get me a few things from the market, it would be a great help?" Sakura asked, now embarrassed by her demand.

"Yes of course I will." Natsume responded, smiling at her. Sakura quickly wrote down a few things on a piece of paper and handed it to the girl. She took the paper from Sakura and bowed, heading towards the door.

"Thank you!" Sakura shouted before the girl left, then settled into her chair, sighing loudly.

_This feels so good. Doesn't feel like I left at all._ She thought to herself, leaning back in her chair.

_This is where you last met too..._ Her mind wandered off.

Shaking her head out of her thoughts she moved her chair forward. Not wanting to waste any time she opened her folder and began writing down a list of names, before filing the folder away.

She had been working for an hour and a half when a loud knock startled her.

"Y-yes, come in!" She yelled, looking over at the time, shocked at how fast it had flown by.

"Sakura-san, there is a man here to see you. He goes by the name Sai." A young woman spoke, peaking her head in the room.

Sakura's eyes darted to the girl at the door, the work in front of her forgotten. She smiled slyly.

"Yes, of course. Call him through." Sakura replied, getting up and walking around to the front of her desk slowly with her hands behind her back.

Sai hadn't changed since the last time she'd seen him. All that appeared different was his uniform, which was now identical to the one her sensei wore. He walked in smiling his usual smile with his eyes shut.

"Well I didnt expect to see you again, Saku-" He began, shutting the door behind him. He was cut off by a fist slamming into his face, sending him flying across the room.

"Argh, ugh," He spluttered, leaning up on his left arm, holding his face. He looked up over at Sakura who was walking towards him, anger visible.

"I didnt expect this either! You greet everyone like this?!" He yelled, remaining on the ground.

"What the hell are you doing telling everyone I'm engaged?!" She shouted, now standing a foot away, clenching her fist at him.

"Wha-you! I come here to welcome you back and you throw me across the room because I told everyone your surprise?!" He shouted back, getting up, using the wall as support.

"What surprise?! I'm NOT engaged!" She screamed stepping closer to him, now seething with anger and frustration.

"What?! No, that's what it said in my book!" He replied, remaining by the wall and holding his right cheek.

Sakura sighed looking at his injury. Guilt digging into her. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the hospital bed sitting him down firmly then walking over to the cabinet by the sink.

She returned with a box full of equipment, ready to heal Sai's injury. Placing the box next to him, she reached for his cheek, only to see the boy duck away.

"Oh for god's sake I'm not going to hurt you." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah? You wanna right that down for me? Punching me the second I enter the room." Sai replied, reluctantly returning to his spot allowing her to fix him.

Once she was finished she went back over to the sink and began throwing away unwanted tissues and plasters.

"So, you're_ not_ engaged?" He asked, remaining seated on the bed.

She turned around and leaned against the sink, her hands holding it and sighed, "No, I'm not. Never have been." She replied looking over to him.

"But my book said that when a woman is exceptionally happy around a man that means she is in love with him and likely engaged." He spoke, looking back at her.

"What?" She said confused.

"Ok, so I made the last bit up, but you were really happy with that guy you were always with and then I overheard you and him talking about a wedding..." He replied, defending himself.

"That guy? What guy are y-" She began, confused by her friend, when she realised Sai's confusion.

"Oh Sai you idiot! You're talking about Kei!" She said, walking over to the window, her face in her hands.

"Kei?" He asked, turning his body around to look at her, eyebrow quirking up.

"Yes, Kei! He was my assistant! My student even! I was teaching him everything about the Hospital because _he_ was going to become a head of one of the departments!" She yelled looking over at him, her back against the window sill.

"Oh, he's your student..." Sai repeated, looking down to the floor. "But wait what about the whole talking about the wedding?" He continued, convinced he heard right.

"I heard you two talking about how 'you can't wait till the wedding" and asking if he'd got some list of yours for it?" He finished, looking at Sakura questioningly.

"The-oh that! Temari-sans friend was getting married, and I offered to help out with some of the arrangements! I gave him a list of things to get from town, seeing as he was _my_ assistant, so naturally I asked him to do it!" She yelled, groaning at Sai's misinterpretation.

Sai continued looking at Sakura, his eyebrows furrowed, displaying his confusion.

"So he's your student/assistant and that's why you were always together, and it was Temari-sans friend's wedding that you were talking about." He summed up.

"Yes." She sighed, turning around to look out the window.

"Well, I guess I don't understand people that well then." He said, disappointed.

Sakura smiled, "No. You understand people perfectly well. It's just the situations that you misinterpreted. I guess now thinking about it, I_ can_ see how and why you'd think I was engaged. Still, you're an idiot for blabbing your mouth off." She finished looking over at him, narrowing her eyes.

He smiled back, "Mmm, sorry about that, I didn't ask you because I thought you didn't want to tell me or anyone else."

_What the hell? That doesn't even make any sense, HE went off and told everyone anyways. _Sakura thought, rolling her eyes.

"And with something this big, I needed someone to confide in!" He continued shrugging his shoulder.

Her eyes narrowed at his excuse, and was about to turn around and speak when he'd already begun.

"So who was it that told you? Kakashi-sensei? Yamato-taichou? The cake shop workers? Wait was it the market holders?" Sai questioned, smirking at her.

She quickly turned around and looked at him horrified, "What the-h-how many people did you 'confide in'?"

Upon seeing her horrified expression, Sai began laughing loudly.

"Relax! I'm joking! I only told, Sasuke, who told Karin, who told Ino, who probably mentioned it to Shikamaru and Chouji, and I told Naruto too, who told Hinata, who told Neji and her family, who told Tenten and Lee, who told me!" He finished, counting the names on his fingers.

Sakura looked at him, her left eye twitching slightly in annoyance, "Wouldn't it have been easier to just say our WHOLE FRIENDS?!" She bellowed, moving towards him, her waving fist making a re-appearance.

"Not really, Kiba and Shino don't know, but that's because they're on a mission with Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-taichou."

"Right. A-and them? Do they know?" She asked, worried.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know. They left so quick I never got to tell them." He replied, rubbing his chin.

"You didnt 'get to tell them'?" She repeated through gritted teeth. "You went around 'confiding' in all our friends, over something you yourself weren't sure about and the only support you had was from a book, and even parts of that you made up!" She shouted, her voice rising as the sentence went along.

"Wait no! I also told Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san!" He said, ignoring the burning anger Sakura was displaying.

"Yeah I got that. She's the one who first mentioned it. Kind of." She replied, calming herself, thinking back to Tsunade's 'own news' words.

"Right. So which one of them actually told you then?" He questioned.

"Erm, Karin came over and asked me and I went around Ino's and she mentioned it too..." She began, looking to the floor."But I guess the one who actually asked me about it first was, Naruto." She continued, her voice now quietened.

"Naruto." Sai replied.

She nodded and turned around walking back to the window, leaning on the window sill, looking out at the village.

"Have you told him it's not true?" He asked, looking at her back.

"No. I cleared it with Ino and Karin, but not him. I never got the chance to." She answered, painfully.

The sun was shining down on the village as ferociously as it was yesterday, illuminating the village and its beauty. She missed this scenery. Nostalgia built up within her and she began remembering the times before she'd left the village. She was blissfully caught up in her memories, forgetting about the present, until Sai's question brought her back to reality.

"So do you know about the engagement?"

She shut her eyes slowly, annoyed, partly that she'd been taken out of her thoughts, but mostly due to the amount of times she'd been asked the same question and follow up questions.

"Yes I do know. And I feel fine about it. I've spoken to them both separately, and I'm happy for them." She answered, turning around and walking to her desk.

He followed her with his eyes, sensing her discomfort around the topic.

"Right. Well, I'm gonna go then. Only really came to say hi, didnt expect to get injured and then ambushed." He spoke rolling his eyes, making his way to the door.

"Ambushed? Is that what I did to you?" She asked, chuckling.

"Yeah! That's exactly what you did! The receptionist told you **I** was here, so you tell her to let me in so you could beat me up and ambush me about your fake engagement."

"'Fake engagement'" She repeated scoffing, "More like, non-existent engagement! And if I'm not mistaken you came to visit me! I wasn't just going to let you go on telling everyone lies!" She responded looking at the boy.

Before Sai could respond the door was knocked on and via Sakura's permission, Natsume entered.

"Sakura-san, I wanted to know if there is anything you'd like me to do before I leave?" She asked, looking at the pink medic, quickly gathering some paper off her desk and walking towards her.

"Ah yes! Here are a list of names of the medics that I've sorted into groups, if you could let them know their groups and timings it would be a lot of help!" Sakura replied, handing the girl a packed folder.

"Yes of course. I'll get on it right away." Natsume said, walking out the room, smiling at Sakura, leaving the two friends alone again.

"Oh and before you leave, she, Natsume, is my ASSISTANT, so you'll probably see her with me quite a lot, you know, maybe laughing, working together, discussing things. I do hope you don't mistake _us_ for something as well." Sakura finished, sarcastically.

"HA! What would a pretty girl like her do with a beas-" He joked, leaping out the door upon seeing a book being flung at him, leaving Sakura alone with her thoughts.

_Well at least he hasn't changed._

* * *

The sun was beginning to set when she finally left the hospital. Carrying a bag of food in one hand and a folder in the other, she made her way home, relishing the warmth of the sun on her skin.

The shops were still open but the busy streets had died down. As she walked down the street she saw people walking around with their friends and family. Upon seeing the laughing people she smiled faintly, remembering her own nights out a couple of years ago.

As she walked down the road, looking to the floor, smiling, she hadn't noticed the two figures walking towards her.

Naruto and Hinata were walking back home, having returned from attending a musical. The 'gift' Hiashi had given them was in fact a family engagement that he'd made them attend, as a way of introducing Naruto to the 'Hyuga family friends.'

"Argh, that was a waste of time." Naruto whined, walking along side Hinata with his hands in his pocket.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself though?" Hinata asked.

"Well I didnt wanna embarrass you in front of them all." He answered, shrugging. "What kind of a 'gift' was that anyways?!" He continued sulking.

"I'm sure father meant well." Hinata replied smiling at the boy.

He put his hands to the back of his head and spoke, "If he meant well, then he would've given us tickets for free ramen!" He answered back, rolling his eyes. "Na, I think he did that on purpose. Making me waste the whole day!" He continued, grimacing,

Hinata remained quiet, smiling at the boy, finding his sulking mood amusing. She stopped smiling when his expression suddenly changed, from looking out in front of him in shock, to his hands shooting back to his pockets and his face looking at the floor. She herself, turned around to see what had caused Naruto's sudden change in behaviour

Sakura was walking towards the couple, looking down at the floor smiling. Not paying attention to anything around her, especially not the two individuals now silently approaching her, and so was startled when she heard Hinata's soft voice.

"Sakura-san?" She spoke, worry evident in her voice.

Sakura immediately stopped in her tracks and her eyes shot up, instantly meeting blue ones. She was so caught up in her thoughts of the past that she wasn't looking ahead and was now standing directly in front of Naruto.

"N-Naruto.." She began, shocked by her closeness and immediately took a step back, he remained where he was, looking down at the girl.

"Hinata!" She greeted quickly, looking over at the worried girl.

"Erm, are you ok?" Hinata asked, moving towards Sakura.

"What? Yes, of course I am!" Sakura replied.

_She better not be referring to their engagement again._

"Oh it's just that you weren't really paying attention to where you were going..." The Hyuga began.

"Hmm? Oh right, yeah I was just caught up in my thoughts!" She smiled back, shrugging."Besides I think its Naruto you should be worried about! Standing here like he's sick or something!" She joked, slapping his arm playfully.

He shifted under her touch and moved closer to Hinata, Sakura noticing this had moved to the side too, away from the couple.

"Hmm? Really? Are you ok Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, holding the boys arm, who kept his direction away from Sakura.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just tired." He replied, moving to the other side of Hinata, so that she was now in between Sakura and himself.

"Well that's expected!" Hinata said, looking over to Sakura, who upon noticing the boys movement had kept her eyes to the floor. "We just returned from watching a musical, Sakura-san!" She exclaimed.

Sakura quickly looked up at the smile radiating from the girl and warmly smiled back, "Is that so?"

"Mmm! Father gave us the tickets as a present, but Naruto-kun thinks he was just trying to get him adjusted into the fam-" She began explaining before Naruto jumped in.

"Hinata lets go. I'm sure she has other things to do." He spoke grabbing hold of Hinata's hand.

Hinata gasped, "Yes! Of course! How inconsiderate of me! I am sorry Sakura-san, I've wasted your time-" She began, this time cut off by Sakura.

"No dont apologise Hinata! I'm not that busy really!" She spoke, directly at the girl, ignoring Naruto herself.

"Either way, we should get going." Naruto replied, letting go of Hinata and walking away.

When he was out of hearing distance, Sakura spoke to Hinata quietly, "Has something happened?" She questioned, confused by Naruto's cold demeanour.

"What? No! Nothing happened. He was completely fine all day, even though he didnt like the musical." She replied, looking towards his direction.

Sakura, who was also looking at Naruto, walking away with his hands once again in his pockets and his head down, felt a tinge of hurt. "Right. It's probably me then." She answered, looking to the floor, her shoulders slumping slightly.

"No! Sakura-san! It's not you! It's like he said, he's just tired that's all." Hinata replied, looking to the girl, who had started to turn away from her.

"Yeah, maybe your right." Sakura said, smiling faintly at Hinata. "Have a nice evening Hinata!"

"Thank you, you too Sakura-san." Hinata said, returning the smile and hurrying after Naruto.

Sakura remained standing, looking in the direction of which the two were walking down, watching Hinata run up to the boy and grab his arm. She saw him return to his cheery self, smiling at the ever worrying Hinata. The change in his demeanour now that he was away from her, brought about a hurting pain she hadn't felt yet. She looked down sadly, and walked back towards her house, the distance between Naruto and herself, surfacing.

Her mood had visibly changed from earlier when she was reminiscing old memories, smiling at them, to now, head down, dejected, feeling more lonely than ever. Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the footsteps coming from behind her, until a familiar male voice spoke.

"Sakura." He said, causing the girl to turn around, startled.

Gaara was standing directly in front of her, hands in his pockets, with Temari and Kankuro on either side of him. Before she could greet them, Temari spoke.

"Hey! You settled in yet? Happy to be back?" She asked, moving towards the girl.

Sakura smiled faintly, "Yeah, yeah I've settled in well, like I told Gaara-san, this is _my_ village!" She joked.

"What are you guys doing here?" She questioned.

"We came to see you." Kankuro answered.

"Me? Why? Is everything ok?!" Sakura replied, worried.

"A-ha ha, dont be like that! It's nothing bad, we just came to see how you are!" Temari assured Sakura, putting her arm around her.

"Oh right, thank god. I thought it was something bad! But you dont need to check up on me! I'm great!" She replied, smiling at Gaara.

Gaara sensed falseness in her answer. "Well I'm quite hungry now. Can we come around yours for dinner?" He said, more as a demand than a question, walking past her and towards her house, followed by an excited Kankuro and Temari.

"Yeah that's a great idea! Let's go Sakura!" Temari shouted, walking along side Kankuro in front of a calm Gaara.

"W-what? Wait! Wait! I never s-" She began, running after the three, but gave up, knowing they wouldn't take no as an answer, so walked beside Gaara, sulking.

"Geez, you guys just invite yourselves over to people's houses for free food huh?" Sakura, who was now washing the dishes, said to Gaara, who was bringing in some of the leftover food.

"Not really." He replied, nonchalantly.

She rolled her eyebrows, finished with washing up, she walked over to the table where Gaara was tidying up.

"So what would you call this then?" She asked, helping him.

"I'd call this, being a friend." He answered looking at the girl. "I can see you are lonely." He continued. "On our way to see you we bumped into Naruto and Hinata. She mentioned that they'd just seen you, and I thought you would like to have some company." He finished still looking at Sakura, who was now making a lot of noise moving things around.

"Well, thank you for that. I appreciate your concern and I guess it _was_ nice to have you around, but I am not lonely! I'm back in _my _village, with _my_ friends!" She replied, laughing.

"You can be surrounded by millions of people, regardless of if they're your friends or not and still feel lonely." He stated.

She stopped messing about with the packages on the table and looked up at him. After a long pause, she spoke.

"I-I guess I am-I do feel quite sad. Sometimes." She said sighing, sitting down on the chair, Temari and Kankuro being occupied in the living room with the TV, Gaara too took a seat.

"All of them, they've all moved on. Married, having kids, responsibilities. I guess I just feel like I haven't done much you know?" She said, playing with her fingers.

"That's expected. People move on, they change, their priorities change." He said, receiving a nod from Sakura. "I've heard about Naruto's engagement too. That was unexpected." He continued, keeping a close eye on the girl.

"Yeah, tell me about it!" She said, leading to a few more minutes of silence.

"I think he's angry at me." She finally said, sighing, looking up.

"Angry? Why do you say that?"Gaara questioned, relieved at the girl finally opening up to him.

"You should've seen the way he was earlier. When I met them in the street. He wouldn't look at me or talk to me. Hated it when I touched him, and he even went so far as to move away from me, to the other side of Hinata." Sakura answered, sadness evident in her eyes.

"I think it's got something to do with my _supposed engagement_." She continued, confusing Gaara, who questioned her about it.

"Sai misinterpreted some things when he came to Suna, and he told everyone I was engaged." She explained, shaking her head.

"I cleared it with Ino and Karin, but I haven't had the chance to speak to him about it properly, but he knows. He asked me." She finished, looking down.

"Well if you're so determined to clear this up, you'd have told them when you met them earlier." Gaara answered, causing Sakura to shoot her head up and look at the red-haired boy in front of her.

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"I just mean, that you should clear this with him quickly, rather than drag it on. As in the next time you see him you should tell him." He answered calmly, getting up.

"You know, sometimes, the wrong decisions are made over the false information." He stated, walking to the living room, with a confused Sakura after him.

"Temari, Kankuro, we should get going now." He commanded, walking to the door.

"What did you mean by that?" Sakura asked, walking after him.

"By what?" Gaara replied, turning around with a straight face.

"What you just said." She answered, confused.

"What did I say?"

"You forgot?"

"When?

"What?!" Sakura shrieked, taking a step back from the Kazekage.

"Ok...erm, maybe you _should_ be getting back." She said, turning around to usher Temari and Kankuro out.

_He is losing his mind._ She thought.

Gaara smiled faintly at the girls confused state and walked out the door, followed by his siblings bidding farewell to the pink kunoichi, who went back in to her empty apartment.

"He's got a point though. I really should tell him before someone else does." She said talking out loud.

"Great, now I'm talking to myself. Maybe _I'm_ losing my mind." She said, rubbing her head.

* * *

"Naruto-kun, are you sure you will be alright?" Hinata asked, standing by the door, clutching her purse tightly.

"Yes, of course I will Hinata! I told you I'm fine!" He replied, walking to the girl and opening the door for her. "Now go and have fun!" He said smiling widely.

She smiled back at him, naively convinced he was ok and kissed him on the cheek then disappearing out the door.

He went over to the couch and slumped down on it, flicking through the channels, nothing catching his eye.

He'd been watching meaningless TV for about an hour and decided to go to sleep when there was a loud rhythmic, knock on his door. He recognised the owner instantly and went to open it.

"Hey Naruto!" Shikamaru walked in hugging the boy.

"Shikamaru!? What are you doing here?!" Naruto replied, surprised at his presence.

"What? Is that how you greet me?" Shikamaru joked, standing in the building by the now closed door.

"No no, it's just I haven't seen you for a while. This is unexpected." Naruto defended.

"Yeah, I've been busy with the baby and Ino. No matter what that girl does it's always so troublesome." He spoke, in his usual, tired voice. "Where's Hinata?" He questioned looking around the room.

"Oh she went out with her sister and some family. A girls dinner or something ..." Naruto answered, shrugging.

"So why are you here then?" Naruto asked, looking at the boy.

"Its Ino's birthday soon, and she's planning a party. She says she wants to get us all together, saying how busy we all are and it'll be good to catch up, but I think it's just so she can show off the baby." Shikamaru explained , shrugging.

Naruto chuckled at his friend's usual unfazed attitude.

"I was on my way home and I thought I'd drop by and tell you. it's not set yet, but I wanted to tell you, you know what with you being busy with your engagement things." He continued, seeing a change in the boy's body language.

"Oh r-right. Yeah!" Naruto quickly perked up. "Thanks for that! So I'm the first one to know right?" He continued, proudly.

"Well, yeah I think you are. Chouji's gone on a mission, and I dont think Ino's told Sakura yet." He answered, smiling. "Sakura!" He chuckled, smiling to the floor, shaking his head.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, confused, "What about her?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"You don't know? About her 'engagement'?" He asked, using his fingers to emphasise the word.

"Yeah I know about _that_." Naruto muttered, looking to the floor.

"So dont you think it's funny?" Shikamaru asked looking at him.

"Funny?" Naruto replied, in a less than amused tone.

"Yeah! How we all thought she was engaged and it turns out that Sai's been thinking the wrong thing!" Shikamaru answered, laughing.

"W-what?" Naruto asked, confused.

"You dont know?" Shikamaru responded, looking at Naruto intently, who shook his head.

"Well, according to Ino, Sai got the wrong impression when he visited Sakura a couple months ago. Turns out she's not engaged at all! She's not even _with_ anyone!" He laughed.

Naruto stood looking down at the hallway behind Shikamaru, shocked at what his friend had told him. Confusion, mixed with anger was now visible on his face, as Shikamaru snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hey! You alright?" He asked, worried.

Naruto blinked quickly and turned to see his concerned friend. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I just didnt know that." He answered, looking to the floor, his mind racing.

"Right...well I should get going, Ino's probably going out of her mind wondering where I am...you sure you're alright?" Shikamaru questioned, walking towards the door.

"Yeah, dont worry. Thanks for letting me know about the party yeah!" Naruto replied, smiling at his friend, who nodded slowly, still not sure about Naruto's state of mind.

"Well, if you need anything let me know." Shikamaru said, walking out the door.

Naruto shut the door slowly and walked over to the couch, leaning against the armrest. Staring up at the blank, beige wall, his mind processing the information Shikamaru had relayed to him.

"She's not engaged." He said out loud.

"She's...not...engaged..." He repeated, anger and confusion returning. He got up and marched out of his apartment slamming the door shut.

* * *

She was on her way to bed when a loud, aggressive knock, pounded at her door. She groaned loudly, expressing her annoyance and went to open the door, not expecting to see an angry tall blond standing in the door way.

He barged in, pushing the door so hard he almost hit Sakura in the face, if it wasn't for her quick reflex of moving out of the way.

"Na-Naruto?!" She shouted, looking back at the boy in her apartment.

"Why didnt you tell me?!" He yelled at her.

She closed the door quietly, then turned to face the raging boy standing in the middle of the room.

"What are you talking about? You can't just barge into my house and-" She began, getting angry herself.

"Your engagement! It's not real!" He yelled impatiently.

Sakura was taken aback with his statement. She looked at him with wide eyes, realising the reason for his unfamiliarly, enraged demeanour.

"What?" She said, breathlessly.

"I know all about it! I know its fake!" He bellowed, his anger rising upon seeing her confused state.

"Wha-I-" She said, clearing her throat she continued, "How?"

"Does that even matter?!"

"I said how!" She screamed back, her temper mirroring his.

"Shikamaru came round and told me!"

"Shi-Shikamaru." She repeated, quietly, looking to the floor.

"Yeah him!"

"W-well, why are you so ang-" She spoke, trying to make sense of his irate behaviour.

"Four days! You've been back for four days! We last _spoke_ four days ago and you didnt even _try _to set it all straight!" He screamed, his arms flapping about as he turned his back to her.

She had now moved to the small round table to her right, leaning against it for support, her hands holding it on either side.

"Wha-I wante-"

"You had enough time to tell Ino though!" He cut in as if knowing what she wanted to say.

Sakura remained silent, not responding, looking to the floor. Noticing the lack of words from her, he too stayed silent for a while, staring out of the large window, his hands behind his back.

"How did he get this wrong?" He finally spoke, unmoved.

"Sai? He mistook my assistant for my...f-fiancé." She replied, hesitantly, her eyes moving slowly up, towards his direction.

"Naruto, I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you before but I-" She started, trying to make the boy see sense. She moved nearer to the couches, trying to get him to look at her.

"You're sorry!" He scoffed."You're so sorry you couldn't even tell me earlier!" His voice, raising. He turned around and walked past her to the table.

"D'ya know how stupid I feel?! I'm supposed to be your friend! Your closest friend and I'm probably one of the last to know!" He shouted turning to look at Sakura, who sighed, pursing her lips together.

"Sasuke. Does he know?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Sakura looked over to him and nodded lightly, her eyes returning to the floor.

"HE knows too?! Right, so I really am the last to know!" He yelled failing at containing his anger.

"It's not like I didnt want to tell you! There just wasn't the right time! I only came back on Tsunade-sama's orders, how was I supposed to know this rumour was flying about?!" She screamed back at him, her arms moving in front of her to emphasise her innocence.

He looked away from her and marched over to the door.

"Wait, wha-" She called after him.

"I'm going home. This. All of this is...it's just...it's too annoying for me right now!" He cut in, opening the door.

"Right. So I annoy you if I'm engaged and I annoy you if I'm not." She spoke, her voice quieter and shaking.

He stopped in the doorway. His arms by his side, fists clenched. Looking to the floor on his side, so only half of his face was visible to her, he spoke quietly.

"No. You dont annoy me...you-...you dont annoy me." He said shutting the door behind him, leaving Sakura alone, standing in the middle of her apartment, now recognising the tears built up in her eyes.

* * *

_**Dont forget to review!**_

_**If you want... :)**_


	5. Pain

_**New chapter! **_

_**Ideas flying in my head after the last one! **_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 4 - Pain**

She was awaken by the noises from the street belting into her bedroom. Rubbing her eyes vigorously, she tried to get up from her laying position. However, as soon as she attempted to, she dropped straight back down on to her pillow, her head nestling comfortably, looking out at the pale blue sky through her balcony doors.

Her head felt dizzy and her eyes heavy from the lack of sleep. The events of the night before running through her head, disallowing her any peace. She turned away from the doors and laid on her right hand side, curling up in the fetal position. She just wanted to bury her head into the pillows as deep as it could go and fall asleep, forgetting her problems and responsibilities. Unfortunatley for Sakura, the commotion out on the streets did little to help. Her eyes shot open, annoyed at the loud noises, and rested on the green light signalling it to be 9.00AM displayed on her solid, black alarm clock. She let out a load groan and flung the sheets off and sat on her bed, her feet dangling off it, facing her door.

She sat there staring at the door - looking to the floor - yawning with no motivation to get up. That is until the noises of the men outside, shouting out orders to others, came ringing in her ears, irritating her. She pushed herself off her bed and headed for the bathroom. After having a longer shower than she'd normally had, relishing in the warm water caressing her tired body, she made herself breakfast and gathered her belongings, making her way out to the hospital.

Today was the day her training of the new medics would begin. The reason she was here. The reason she was sent for. The reason she returned to her village after being certain she wouldn't. Promising this would be the one and only thing that she'd focus on and yet the day had only just begun, she hadn't done any work except get out of her house, and the only thing on her mind, or the only _one_ on her mind was a tall blond boy.

She walked down the now very busy street ignoring the shouting and rush, instead lost in her thoughts. The picture of Naruto's angry and hurt face coming into the forefront every time she thought of last night. She tried to shake herself out of it, but it would still be there, lurking in the back of her head, waiting to appear at any given time. Little did she know that her training would be ladened with these thoughts.

Upon entering the hospital she was greeted by an upbeat Natsume, "Good morning Sakura-san!"

"Morning." Was Sakura's quiet reply.

"I have gathered Group A for you in room B4."

"Ok, thank you, I'll be there in a moment." Sakura said smiling at the girl and walking into her office.

She picked up a few bits from her cabinet and headed out, making her way to the room full of new medics. When she had entered, with Natsume behind her, they were all sitting at the desks in pairs of two occupying each table, silence falling about the room upon her appearance. She put down her folder on the desk at the front and walked to the centre, turning to face them.

"Good morning! My name is Haruno Sakura and I am going to be your teacher for the ...near future." She spoke, unsure of exactly how long she'd be here.

"Now you're all here because you have an interest in medicine and the helping of o-our village. I'm sure you're all aware of the recent disturbances in the village and the low supply of trained medics, therefore I won't waste any time, the training will start immediately. Firstly I want you all to fill out these sheets so I can see your knowledge of medicine so far." She declared, gesturing to Natsume to hand out the papers in her hands.

As Natsume made her way around the room and the trainees began filling out the papers, Sakura walked over to the nearby window, her hands behind her back, staring out at the lush green lawn under the sweltering sun. It didnt take much for her thoughts to return to the same ones that prevented her from sleeping. Her eyebrows furrowed together and her eyes shut, the pain of yesterday evident on her face.

"Sakura-san? Are you ok?" Natsume asked quietly, now right beside her, also looking out of the window.

Sakura turned around, startled by the girls sudden appearance and quickly gathered her composure.

"Y-yes yes! I'm fine, I just didnt get that much sleep last night that's all!" She answered smiling widely at the worried girl.

"Oh, is something on your mind?" She asked.

"N-no! No! I guess it was the whole planning of the day, the excitement of it too." Sakura said in a less than excited tone, her eyes returning to the outside.

"Mmm, well hopefully today won't be a long day!" Natsume said cheerfully, attempting to lift Sakura.

"Yes, well it shouldn't be. I wanted today to be an introductory day so we can get to know their capabilities, but you never know." Sakura replied, sighing and turning around, walking to her desk.

Most of the trainees had completed their forms and left them on a pile on her desk. She picked them up and skimmed through them all, waiting for the last few to arrive. Natsume was now with her, clearing up the pile, then joining her in watching the students.

A small knock echoed around the silent classroom, disrupting the students' attention. Sakura walked across the room and opened the door, seeing Karin standing there and joined her outside, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Karin? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing! I heard you were starting your training today so wanted to wish you luck!" Karin replied giving her a thumbs up.

"Oh right, thank you!" Sakura thanked smiling at her. Karin remained unmoved, looking around at her surroundings. Sakura, also unmoved, looked at the girl, narrowing her eyes at her, "So...is there something else?" She said, sensing a different motive.

"Hmmm? Oh, heh, how are you?" She said, looking at her from above her glasses.

Sakura frowned, "What?"

"How are you, you know with-"

"Urgh, for god's sake Karin, my life isn't some drama for you and Sasuke-kun to examine and discuss at home! I'm working right now!" She yelled in a hushed tone.

Karin sighed quietly, "Yeah yeah I know. Sorry, I just want to make sure you're alright."

"I am fine. Look if anything, you're one of the first people to know if something changes in my life, I'll speak to you later on, I'm quite busy right now!" She said, nodding at the door, placing her hand on the handle.

Karin gasped, "So there _is_ something!" Sakura rolled her eyes and went back into the room. She walked over to Natsume who indicated that all the forms had now returned. She nodded at her assistant and turned to speak to the class.

"Ok thank you for your completed forms, Natsume and I will look over them to see what will be needing improvement and where your specialties lie. Today we will be working on your abilities to heal small wounds. Though this may seem like a mediocre task, it is vital that you're able to do this before moving on to more serious injuries." She said, commanding the group to make their way to one of the wards on the hospital.

Sakura and Natsume gathered the forms and placed them in a file, ready to be scrutinised. Placing the folder on one of the shelves at the reception to collect later on, they made their way to the wards. Before they could enter Sakura gathered her students, "This is one of the many children's wards. Here you'll find kids with cuts and bruises and other minor wounds. I want you all to get into pairs and I will assign you a bed, there you will examine the child together and then proceed to heal them. Before you do heal them though, I want you to call over myself or Natsume to check." She said smiling at the worried trainees.

"Dont worry if you dont get it right, this is all part of training, it's a learning process!" She added, attempting to lift the nervous students.

She led them in and assigned each pair a bed. The trainees set to work quickly, the ward filled with scientific chatter amongst them, trying to assess the various injuries on display. Sakura and Natsume walked up and down the ward slowly, examining the different trainees, stopping every now and again to assess their decisions. Being here, on the ward, with so much going on, helped to distract her mind. Her attention was now fully on her work and not on her personal life.

* * *

The day went by quickly. The training helping to move it along. The trainees had finished examining and healing the patients by 3pm, a lot earlier than Sakura had expected, and so she and Natsume were now in her office going through the forms the trainees had filled out earlier on.

"They look like a clever group." Sakura said, filing the papers away, impressed with the answers she had received.

"Yes they do. It makes you wonder how the other groups will be." Natsume responded.

"Hopefully they'll be the same too. That way we can finish the days off early!" Sakura joked, earning a chuckle from her assistant.

They too had worked quickly through the completed forms and were now filing them away. Once finished Sakura allowed her assistant to leave early, as she remained behind, gathering new forms for the next day's group.

She had been taking a break from her work, staring up at the ceiling, yawning, when her thoughts of yesterday came flooding back. Instantly she was taken back to her personal problems, ones that awaited her when she left the hospital. She sighed loudly, knowing there was no way she could ignore this and gathered her belongings, bidding farewell to the hospital staff.

It was now 4.30pm, the sun had moved slightly lower in the sky, and its rays had reduced their intensity on the village. She walked out, her head down in thought, thinking of all the possible things she could do. After much deliberating and aimless walking, she decided to go see him.

* * *

His house was the first and obvious place to go. She walked up to the door hesitantly and beforeshe could compose herself, she had already knocked loudly on the brown door. With no immediate reply, it then dawned on her that he didnt live alone anymore. The thought of him and Hinata inside made her step back, cursing herself for not thinking things through properly. Her initial panic had calmed down when she noticed no reaction. She stepped forward and gave another, softer knock. Still nothing.

_He doesn't seem to be in. They both dont._

She turned around, huffing, slightly disappointed, but slightly relieved. Walking down the stairs she went down the street scratching her head, looking about, confused as to where the boy could be.

_He might be around the Hyuga Manor... _She thought.

She shook her head and decided she'd look around the village and_ that_ would be her last resort. Walking around the village, she checked all the possible places he could be. But to her annoyance she couldn't find him anywhere. Not at Ichiraku, the Hokage tower, the academy, his old apartment, even the beautiful lush field atop the Hokage mountain where they would both come to relax after a long mission, had no Orange ninja in sight.

She was about to give up when it suddenly hit her.

_Sakura, you idiot, how could you forget __**that **__place! _She berated herself.

She turned around and ran towards the training grounds. The ones where team 7 had their first test. Her legs began hurting, due to the lack of rest she had, but she continued, certain the boy would be there, desperate to find him there to avoid her last resort. She turned into the grounds and stopped abruptly.

Breathing heavily, she remained in her spot looking over at the three wooden pillars. The middle pillar had an orange clothed, blond haired boy slumped beside it, his back against the pillar looking out to the other side of the ground. Luckily Sakura was behind him. She could see the back of him and walked slowly, trying to catch her breath. She was halfway there when the remembrance of their last meeting hit her. She stopped walking and started fiddling with her folder, nervously. She moved towards him, begetting more hesitant with every step.

He had sensed her the second she entered the grounds. Her attempts to walk quietly hadn't gone unnoticed. But he remained where he was. Unmoved, staring out in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed, thinking.

"I-I thought I'd find you here." She said, her voice shaking, not expecting a reply and not receiving it.

She stepped closer and sat beside the pillar mimicking his seating position, her back against it, looking to the ground. She brought her legs up to her chest, holding them tightly, her knees tucked under her chin. They stayed like this for a while. Both unmoved, lost in their thoughts, neither of them speaking.

Her heart ached. How did it turn out like this? They were so close, never having nothing to talk about, always laughing together and now they could barely say a word to each other. She opened her mouth about to talk, but opted against it, fearing it'd annoy him. Surprisingly for her, he was the one who spoke first.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, unmoved.

Sakura's attention remained on the floor. She pulled her legs further into her chest and spoke, "I-I wanted to see if you were o-ok." She stuttered, confused as to how she'd become like this.

He scoffed quietly, "Now you do."

She stayed quiet, not responding, knowing he was referring to her two year, no word, absence. She breathed deeply and mustered up her courage to begin getting to their real issue,

"Naruto, if I knew Sai had misinterpreted everything, I would have set him straight in a second. I wouldn't have allowed anyone to believe this. But I didnt. How was I supposed to know this was going around?" She said, turning her head around. He didnt move. He stayed in his position listening to her words.

"Yeah, that's because you weren't here." He replied, sternly.

This statement riled her, but keeping her composure, she spoke loudly and firmly, "Yeah, well you didnt make much of an effort to make me stay." She said, turning around slamming her back into the wood.

He felt her anger. The wooden pillar shook and caused him to re-adjust his seating position. He sighed loudly and looked down at his hands.

" Yesterday. I didnt mean to scare you." He said after a long silence between the two.

Her ears perked up, listening intently to him. She remained silent, wanting him to continue further, intrigued as to what he wanted to say.

"I was just angry that I didnt know. It was just...in the heat of it...I-I'm sorry." He said quietly, his head burying down.

She smiled faintly at his soft voice. The boy she remembered partly returning. She turned her face to the right, "It's ok. I understand. I'm sorry too, I should've told you sooner." She replied.

They stayed quiet once again. Neither talking, just looking out in front of them, the cool breeze wafting around them.

Upon seeing Naruto stand up slowly, brushing his clothes, she too stood up, her eyes not moving away from the back of his head. He remained standing with his back to her.

"C-can we go back to the way we were before?" She asked hopefully.

He turned around to look at her, displaying his confusion.

"You know, friends." She quickly continued.

His eyebrows relaxed and his eyes went to the floor understanding her now. After a few minutes thinking, he looked up at her and smiled, "I'd like that."

Her face lit up instantly and she mimicked his smile. They turned to walk out of the training grounds, both satisfied at their progress.

They had just got on the streets when Naruto spoke."Sakura-chan, I need to get going. I have to get some things done before tonight..." He said quietly stopping in his tracks and looking to the floor.

Sakura stopped with him. Sensing his hurry, she immediately realised what he was referring to. "Oh right, yes of course. How could I even forget with all that noise keeping me up all the time!" She said jokingly.

He looked up at her quickly, narrowing his eyes. "Wha-what are you talking about?" He asked confused.

"The party. Its tonight right?" She replied.

"How do you know that?"

"What do you mean 'how do I know' the whole village know! The whole village is probably invited too." She muttered the latter, "And the little fact that it's happening down my road, well the main bit of it is at least-"

"What?!" He shouted his eyes widening. "It's down _your_ road?!"

"Y-yeah, they've been preparing it all w-week-wait! Naruto where are you-" She shouted after him as he turned away from her and leapt down the road. She looked on after him, confused at his anger.

_Maybe he doesn't want me there...No we just made up...Urgh, this is all too much for me. _She thought walking back home.

* * *

He sped past the villagers, jumped over buildings, hurriedly making his way to the Hyuga Manor**. **Banging loudly on the huge white gates, he was let in and demanded to see Hinata. He was led into a room with a square white couch, the huge green garden, with an assortment of flowers visible through the sliding doors opposite him. He stood with his hands on his hips looking at the floor in anger.

She walked down the hallway hurriedly, wearing a knee length, light blue dress. She turned the corner into the room and upon seeing the angry boy, her concern deepened. "N-Naruto-kun? What's wrong? What happened?" She asked, moving towards him.

His head went flying up, looking straight at her, "Did you know?!" He shouted.

"Know what?"

"Where it was being held!"

"What? Naruto-kun you're not making any sense!"

"The engagement party! Tonight! Do you know where its being held?!" He yelled back trying to get the girl to understand him, but also trying not to scare her.

"In the village, I dont-" she began, confused.

"It's down the main road! The main road! Down Sakura-chans road!" He shouted, his hands leaning on the couch, his head down, desperately toning his anger.

"What? No I dont think it's-" She began, moving towards the couch.

"Yes it is Hinata. She just told me." He said, calming his voice, containing his anger.

"I-I didnt know that, I-" She began, cut off by a deep loud voice.

"Is everything alright?" Hiashi appeared behind Hinata. She turned around startled.

"Father! Yes everything is fi-" Hinata began.

"Did you know?" Naruto cut in, standing up straight looking at the man, who returned his stern look.

"Know what?"

"Where the party is being held." Naruto answered impatiently.

"Yes I do. I'm the one who planned it." Hiashi replied calmly. Hinata turned to look at Naruto, who looked as if he'd lash out at Hiashi any second.

His jaw and fists clenched, working hard to contain his anger. "It's right on her doorstep."

"Whose?" Hiashi asked.

"S-Sakura-sans." Hinata answered for him, looking up at her father, showing her disappointment at her father's blunder.

"Sakura? Haruno Sakura?" He asked, looking at Hinata then to Naruto. "What does that matter? That road is perfect to accommodate _yours and Hinata's_ engagement, Haruno Sakura just happens to live on the road. Why are you so angry about this?" He questioned after stating facts Naruto couldn't argue with.

"Father, why didnt you-" Hinata began.

"If there is a problem, then speak Naruto." Hiashi said, ignoring his daughter.

Naruto looked at Hiashi aware of him trying to test his patience. He sighed deeply and looked over to Hinata. "No. Nothing's wrong. I would've liked to have known." Hinata nodded slightly at him. "Come Hinata lets go home." He said turning around, ignoring Hiashi. She ran past her father and followed the boy out of the Manor down the street.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I honestly didnt know." She said quietly looking at the boy to her right.

He kept his eyes down in thought, then turned to look at her and smiled, "No. I'm sorry, barging in like that. I dont know what came over me." He said, looking out in front of him, "What were you doing there anyways?" He asked.

"Nothing really, I was just talking to Hanabi and then-" She stopped speaking and looked down.

"Then I came barging in!" Naruto laughed looking at her. She remained looking down, not smiling, thinking. Realising the boy looking at her she met his eyes quickly and gave him a smile. He returned to looking out in front of him and she to the floor, both of their smiles fading.

* * *

The celebrations started early in the evening. Sakura guessed 7pm as she was settling to read one of her many medicinal books. Intrigues by the lights and noises from the street, she decided to go out and see the celebrations for herself.

Wearing a long black dress, with a dark purple jumper, she opened the door and she stepped into a densely populated street. Families moving about excitedly, adults greeting each other happily and loudly, children running around playing games, pulling their parents to the various opened stalls. As she looked around her, she couldn't help smiling at the happy villagers, pleased they had something to smile about after the attacks they'd faced.

Her eyes fell on the huge stage at the top of the street, music vibrating down the village and various dance displays on show. She wasn't paying attention to where she was walking when she went barging into a figure in front of her, she turned around shocked, "Oh my gosh! I am so sor-" She began, looking at the man in front of her. Upon seeing the familiar face her face dropped, "Oh it's you." She said looking away, grimacing.

"Wow, your greeting s are getting warmer huh?" Sai remarked, "Careful, I dont want to think you're actually happy to see me." He finished smirking at the girl.

She had her arms crossed and sighed loudly, "Whatever. What are you doing?" She asked looking over at the stall he was standing near.

"It's an art stall...thing. They give you blocks of wood and you carve out whatever you want! It came about as a rumour that it was one of the engagement presents received." He replied, looking at the stall excitedly.

She looked at him, then at the stall in confusion. She pursed her lips, "Well. That's sounds boring." She finished looking away. He looked down at her, insulted, but before he could speak they were joined by two familiar figures.

"Sakura! Sai!" Ino yelled from behind them.

"Ino!" Sakura smiled hugging the girl. Shikamaru greeted Sai and Sakura and stood beside Ino. "You came?!" Ino questioned looking at Sakura, who nodded. "What about...you know...?" She asked, unsure of what to say.

"Why are you hesitating, he's the idiot who started the whole rumour!" Sakura said, nudging Sai.

"Right so, anything changed?" Ino questioned.

"Yeah, Naruto found out about everything, thanks to big mouth." She said, nodding at Shikamaru, causing Ino to narrow her eyes at him. The three individuals attention was now solely on Sakura as she explained how her and Naruto had talked and were now on speaking terms.

"That's great!" Ino exclaimed.

"Yeah, unless Sai goes blabbing his mouth off again." Sakura said looking at Sai with a straight face. "Where's the baby?" Sakura asked looking around.

"My parents are looking after him while we attend this." Shikamaru answered.

"So Sakura what made you come out then?" Ino prodded.

"Well apart from the fact that this is happening on my door step," She said pointing at her house, "I also didnt make anything for dinner, so figured I'd come here." She said looking at Sai, who along with Ino and Shikamaru began laughing. Sakura looked around at her friends and joined them. Laughing loudly, happy they were enjoying their time together.

Ino and Shikamaru left when Ino's parents appeared and Sai left to go to the stall he had his eye on, leaving Sakura standing on her own in the middle of the packed street. She went around looking for a place to eat. Most of the stalls she saw where selling greasy, unhealthy food, until she stopped at a small stall selling cooked meat, but with some vegetables too. She brought a portion and devoured it within seconds, taking her Iced Tea out of the shop with her.

She walked around the street, sipping her Iced Tea and humming along to the music, stopping to look at the stalls from afar, smiling at the excited kids when they'd win something or see something they liked.

"Well, we didnt expect to see you here!" Karin exclaimed from behind Sakura. She turned around and saw Karin and Sasuke walking arm in arm and smiled.

"Great. You two again." She said, smirking. They both smiled at her and joined her down the street.

"Heard everything's sorted between you and Naruto." Sasuke said to Sakura as they watched Karin play a game at the stall.

"Yeah, we talked and-wait! How do you know?" She asked, confused.

"I spoke to Naruto just before. He mentioned it." Sasuke answered, smirking at Karin's angry shouting.

"Oh right. Yeah we spoke. Things are ok now." She replied, looking over at Karin too.

"Are they?" He muttered his eyes unmoving from his wife.

"What?" Sakura snapped, looking up at him.

"Nothing. He asked if I thought you'd come." Sasuke said, changing the topic.

"H-he did?"

"Yeah. I said you're so annoying who knows what goes on in your head." Sasuke replied, smirking at Sakura who was huffing and pouting.

"I only really came for the food." She said after some silence. Sasuke looked down at her and sensed falseness in her statement. Suddenly he heard Karin scream, he turned to look at her quickly fearing the worst but was met with a joyous Karin, jumping in the air, having won. She claimed her prize, a huge blue plushie and walked over to a gleaming Sakura. Upon seeing the happy Sakura, he decided not to question her and spoil the mood.

"Shouldn't you be the one winning this for me?" Karin asked Sasuke as the three of them continued down the street.

"I would've if you'd given me the chance! You ran over there before I even got to see the stall!" He replied.

Sakura walked beside them, watching the couple exchange harmless teasing. She smiled softly and longingly at the two, then looking to the floor, feeling somewhat empty.

The three walked about the street, stopping to stare at the various stalls on display. While Sasuke and Karin continued displaying their affection, Sakura drank her Iced Tea looking over to the stage at the dancers.

"Iced Tea?" He asked, quirking his eyebrows at the pink haired girl.

Sakura turned around to look at the boy questioning her drinking choice. Naruto stood in front of her, wearing an orange t-shirt, with a black long sleeved shirt under it accompanied with dark trousers, he looked casual yet still formal. His forehead protector was nowhere to be seen, allowing his blond hair to fall lightly on his forehead.

Sakura tore her eyes away from the boy, before he or anyone else could notice her flustered appearance. "Er...erm...heh..." She stuttered, head facing the floor and her hand shooting to the back of her neck.

She quickly composed herself just in time for Sasuke and Karin to notice Naruto, "N-no, they just didnt have anything else to drink." She replied quickly.

He smiled knowingly and looked over at couple, "You two seem happier than usual."

"Well we are at a friend's engagement party." Sasuke stated too boldly, eyeing Sakura to his left, before getting nudge in the chest from Karin.

Silence fell between the four friends, Naruto and Sakura awkwardly looking down. "Technically your family." She said looking at Sasuke.

He rolled his eyes at her, "Yeah, dont remind me." He said turning to face Karin.

Naruto frowned and turned his attention to Sakura, who was lightly smirking at the two boys' behaviours.

"I didnt think you would come." Naruto said looking down at the rosette.

"Heh, yeah, well I heard there was going to be free food and it's not like I'm getting any peace with all of this anyways." She replied gesturing to the noise around her.

He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously, "Yeah, I wanted to say sorry about this. I didnt know it was happening down this road..."

"What? Dont apologize! I understand the reasons for it to be done down here, it's much more convenient! Besides, I guess it's kind of nice, having the street busy." She said smiling widely at the boy, who returned her smile with a faint one of his own.

* * *

"Doesn't this place look good?!" Hinata exclaimed looking around her in awe. She was wearing a long, sleeveless, navy blue dress. Her hair tied up in an elegant fashion and only her engagement ring as jewellery, firmly on.

"Mmm it really does! Father did spend all week on the preparations!" Hanabi replied from next to her sister.

"Yes. He's put a lot effort into all of this huh?" Hinata asked, looking to the floor.

"Is something wrong?" A stern male voice came from behind the sisters. They both turned around, a startled Hinata's eyes widening. Looking down at her was Neji, clad in white clothes. She looked down to the floor not responding.

"No, everything's fine. We were just saying how beautiful the place looks. Right nii-chan?" Hanabi replied, lightly nudging Hinata.

She nodded, "Mm. Yes." Her eyes remaining down.

"Hanabi, could I speak to Hinata alone please." Neji asked. Hinata looked over at her sister desperately hoping she'd recognise her discomfort, unfortunatley Hanabi's attention stayed at Neji, she nodded at him and upon looking over at her sister before she left, she realised her mistake.

Hanabi left leaving the two Hyuga's standing in the middle of the celebrations. Neji ushered them to the side, away from the busy villagers, his hand gently pushing her.

Once they were away from everyone's view, Neji turned to face the young Hyuga opposite him, staring at the floor, fiddling with her fingers.

"You've been avoiding me." He said sternly.

Her eyes remained looking to the floor, now darting right and left, blinking quickly, "N-no I haven't..." She whispered. "I've been busy all day..."

"Yes you have. Not just today, for a quite some time now." He cut in, his eyes not moving from the girls head. They stayed quiet for a while after, neither speaking. She knew he was referring to the moment just after she had spoken to Sakura, a week ago, and when seeing him walking towards her, she had left quickly. Upon remembering this, she bit her lip, taking a step back.

Neji sighed loudly, also taking a step away from the girl, "I dont want to ruin your evening." He said, looking out at the party to his right, Hinata slowly looked up at him.

"So I'll just say this. You know how I feel. You should do by now. The rest is up to you."

She looked at him straight in the eyes, "I-this-it's my engagement party. To Naruto-kun!" She stated, her voice rising slightly.

"I am aware of that. I'm also aware of how I feel and how he does. The question is are you?"

"What?" She asked, confused.

" How do you feel Hinata?" He replied, walking away from the girl, leaving her staring at his back, confused by his words.

"Hinata." Hiashi called over to his daughter. She turned around, seeing his concerned face, she smiled quickly.

"Yes coming!"

"Where is Naruto?" Hiashi demanded as the girl approached him. She looked around.

"I dont know..." She replied, feebly.

"You dont know? He is your fiancé, this is your engagement party, shouldn't you be together?" He questioned looking around himself, spotting the boy, chatting amusedly with a slender, pink haired girl.

"...Yeah! I could've taken'em ALL on!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his fist in front of Sakura's face.

She rolled her eyes, "Please. All you need is a punch to the head and you're out!" She joked back, poking his chest.

"Owww! Sakura-chan!" He whined, his hands shooting up to his chest. She started laughing at the boy's pouting face, which turned slowly upwards into a wide smile.

"Nice to see you are enjoying yourself." Hiashi voiced loudly. Naruto turned around sharply, the smile fading slowly, standing up straight.

He rolled his eyes so Hiashi couldn't see, "Yeah, well it is a party. Right?" He said looking at Hiashi sternly.

"Indeed it is." Hiashi answered, his eyes now moving behind Naruto, landing on Sakura, who was clutching her drink tightly, looking at the Hyuga Head, uncomfortably. Sasuke and Karin had now turned their attention to them and moved over closer to Sakura.

"F-father!" Hinata yelled from behind Hiashi. "Oh Naruto-kun! Here you are!" She said, standing to the side of her father.

"Err..y-yeah! Sorry, I got cut off from you." He replied, smiling faintly.

"Right. Well there are few people who want to meet the two of you." Hiashi said, turning to walk away.

"Yes, of course." Hinata followed, stopping a distance away from the group, waiting for Naruto.

He looked to the floor, conflicted and turned around to look at his friends. "I'll see you guys in a bit then." He said, his eyes resting on Sakura. She nodded, smiling at the boy, who turned away and walked out of their sight.

They kept walking about the street, occasionally stopping at stalls, until Karin and Sasuke decided to call it a night, leaving Sakura alone. She had contemplated going home herself, now convinced Naruto was too busy greeting well wishers. She decided to linger around a little longer, hoping more people would also go home, allowing her to have some peace to sleep.

She was walking back up the road, her house as her destination, when she saw the street much emptier than it was. Relief hit her, thinking the party had died down, but a loud announcement caught her attention and she turned to walk further down the road, to the top of the street. The villagers had all gathered there, awaiting something. Sakura stood near the back, away from the crowd a bit and looked over at them, all chatting amongst themselves excitedly.

"They're all gonna be dead in the morning." A course male voice came from beside her. She turned around startled and slightly scared at the harshness of the voice and saw her neighbour Mitsuo with his arms behind him staring out at the lit stage.

"Mitsuo-san! You scared me!" She responded, putting a hand to her chest. After his usual no response, she questioned his statement.

"It's gone past midnight now. They're all out drinking, laughing, enjoying themselves. Not thinking that the sun will eventually rise and their lives will continue." He stated.

She looked at him with wide eyes, confused as to how to respond. She nodded slowly and turned around to look in front as three figures made their way to the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. I, Hyuga Hiashi, would like to say thank you to you all for attending the engagement party of my daughter Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto." He exclaimed, gesturing at the young couple standing behind him to his left. Hinata nodded and smiled, Naruto smiled faintly and looked out at the gathered crowd, his eyes catching Sakura's faint figure at the back.

She didnt pay any attention to what Hiashi was saying. Not since he stepped foot on the stage. Her eyes remained glued on Naruto. Watching his every move. From running a hand through his hair, to awkwardly playing with his hands. She smiled at the nervousness oozing from the boy. The loud, upbeat, confident boy she knew, looked so nervous and vulnerable. She had a feeling he was looking at her, but she was standing in a now dimly lit part that she wasn't sure.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said looking up at the boy. Yanked out of his daze his eyes shot down to meet her pale ones, worried he had missed something.

"Yes?" He asked quickly, trying to compose himself.

"Are you ok? You seem nervous." She said, linking her arm to his.

He smiled down at her, "N-no! Of course not! Why would I be nervous?!" He replied, laughing nervously.

She smiled at the boy, satisfied and looked out at the crowd. There she saw Neji, standing at the front of the row looking directly at her. Their eyes locked. She jerked her head down quickly, unconsciously tightening her hold on Naruto and moving closer to the boy. Naruto sensed her discomfort and placed his free hand lightly on hers that was resting on his arm. "Hinata? What's wrong?" He asked concerned, his head arching down towards hers to get a clear view of her face.

She saw this display of affection clearly from her standing point. Her eyes lingered on the couple for a few seconds and she subconsciously moved forwards. Matsuo's hand reached over and landed on her shoulder, stopping her immediately. She turned to see the confused man. "What are you doing?" He asked as she turned herself around fully, looking at the old man.

She shook her head, snapping herself out of her stupor and looked up at him, "N-nothing. I-erm-I" She stammered, rubbing her forehead.

After Hinata's reassurance that she was ok, Naruto looked back up at the crowd. His eyes went back over to where Sakura was standing, but he saw nothing. Looking around the crowd quickly he skimmed it for the slightest bit of pink. Nothing. It wasn't until he sighed loudly, lifting his head up to look out at the now empty street behind the growing crowd that he saw Sakura, slowly walking back home, her head down.

* * *

_**Thank you for reading!**_

_**Your reviews are always welcomed and much appreciated! :)**_


	6. Acceptance

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Acceptance**

The second group seemed to be more troublesome than the first. They had started the training at 9.00AM, earlier than the first with Sakura and Natsume thinking they too would be well skilled and were secretly hoping they would be finished earlier. Unfortunatley for them, it had now gone past 1PM and the trainees were struggling to identify the wounds on the patients and administrating the correct procedure to heal them.

She paced up and down the medical ward, keeping an even closer eye on the trainees, with Natsume currently busy with a group in the left corner. She didnt need this. Not today. She had got home and in bed at around 2AM last night, she guessed, and had overslept. Rushing to get in on time, she had left out eating breakfast and because of the more needy trainees, she had to work on an empty stomach. It growled repeatedly as she examined and helped the medics, glancing at the clock every so often, desperate to finish up quickly.

She was standing by the large window looking around at the trainees hard at work, her aching stomach causing her to bite her lip. Her pained expression didnt go unnoticed by her assistant, who walked over to her.

"Sakura-san, are you ok?" Natsume asked, concerned.

"Ahh, Natsume I'm fine!" Sakura replied smiling at the brunette.

"It's just that you look as if you're in pain..."

"No no, dont worry. I didnt have time to get some breakfast this morning that's all." Sakura replied appreciating the girls concern.

"You didnt?! Go, go now! I will look after them here!" Natsume pleaded.

Sakura smiled widely at the girl and thanked her, "It doesn't matter, I think they'll be done soon!" She said, walking over to a medic asking for assistance.

_Geez I __**hope**__ they're done soon. _She thought making her way to examine the trainees' patient. When she had finished she walked back over to Natsume, giving her an assuring smile, despite her aching stomach.

"Ironic how we thought this group would be the same as yesterdays huh?" Sakura said, laughing lightly.

Natsume returned a light chuckle, "Yeah, they seem to be having a lot more trouble." She replied looking around at the trainees worryingly.

Sakura noticed the girls concern, "Ahh dont worry Natsume! We'll get them all trained and ready to handle the worst injuries possible! You'll see! It's just going to take a lot more time..." She said muttering the latter.

Natsume turned to face Sakura and nodded, smiling widely.

"I think their forms are going to be quite troubling too..." Sakura said, rubbing her head.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for having to leave it all to you." Natsume replied, her head dipping down slightly.

"What?!" Sakura jerked around, looking at the girl in shock.

"Huh? You forgot?"

"Forgot? Forgot what?" Sakura asked, confused.

"I told you this morning I needed to leave straight after training, you do remember Sakura-san?" An hopeful Natsume questioned.

Sakura's eyes softened, remembering her chat with the girl before the training, "Ahh, yes yes, I do. Sorry, my mind's all over the place today!" She joked, reassuring the girl.

She was supervising some trainees when she saw Tsunade and Gaara enter the ward. Quickly applying some hand sanitizer, she made her way over to the two Kage's.

"Tsunade-sama! Gaara-san! Is everything ok?!" She asked, worry etched on her face.

"Hmm? Yes of course, everything is fine." Tsunade replied looking around the room, "We just came by to see how everything is progressing." She continued.

"Oh right. Things are good here. Well, this groups seems to be having some difficulty at the moment, but it's nothing serious." Sakura replied, standing beside Gaara and joining the two in watching the trainees.

"I'm sure with your guidance they'll be trained in no time." Gaara said, Tsunade nodding in agreement.

Sakura smiled faintly, "Thank you." She said, blushing slightly. "Ahh, I didnt see you both last night?" She continued, turning her head to them.

"Oh yes, we were going through some things regarding building plans and ran late. We just managed to get there before it finished." Tsunade replied.

"I see, I must have left by then." Sakura said, turning her head back around.

"Didnt know you were going." Gaara said, his eyes remained inspecting the ward.

"Yeah, well the noise kept annoying me, so I decided to go out, plus there was free food." She replied, smirking evilly at the latter.

"Free food," Gaara echoed, chuckling lightly, "Shouldn't you have gone with the notion of congratulating Naruto on his engagement to Hyuga Hinata?" Gaara questioned, slowly looking sideways at the girl.

Sakura returned his look, slowly looking up to him, noting the ambiguity in his voice. "Yes. Of course I did. But, it's quite difficult for one to ignore the smell of delicious food, especially when its wafting in all over your house." Sakura replied as-a-matter-of-fact like, narrowing her eyes at the Kazekage and crossing her arms.

"Right, well I better go, I told Naruto to meet me in my office, and oh look, I'm running late." Tsunade spoke, waving good bye to the two and walking out of the ward.

Sakura watched her leave the room, then turned around, "Wonder what they're talking about." She muttered.

"Hmm?" Gaara asked.

"Nothing. It's just Tsunade-sama doesn't really invite you to her office in the afternoon. Mainly because she's so tired and has so much work to catch up on, so it must be pretty important what she's got to talk to him about." Sakura answered, looking at the trainees nearest to her on her left.

"Yeah well, she has named him as her successor so they have plenty to talk about." Gaara replied.

"What?!" Sakura screeched, causing some of the trainees to lose their concentration. She quickly gained her composure and spoke again, now in a more hushed tone, "What did you just say?!"

"Naruto has been named as Tsunade-sama's successor and so the future Sixth Hokage." He answered nonchalantly.

Sakura's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. No words left her mouth and her eyes slowly made their way to the floor, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Gaara looked down at the confused expression on the girl, "You didnt know?"

"No. I didnt." She stated through gritted teeth, anger building within her. She was suddenly called over by a trainee before Gaara could speak. As she marched over to the students, he turned to leave, but didnt fail to notice her clenched jaw and stiff body, taking all of her effort to contain her anger and tend to the students.

* * *

The days training finally finished at around 5pm. Natsume and the trainees had gone home and Sakura was now in her office, tending to the forms the medics filled out earlier. Fortunately for her she managed to get some food in her and was now feeling more lively and determined to finish the work before nightfall.

She had left her office to retrieve some work from the front desk when a familiar voice bellowed at her, "Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled leaping towards the desk. The receptionists and doctors around looked over at said boy and smiled at his antics. Sakura however, looked up at him, giving him a hard glare and turned away, walking back to her office.

Confusion enveloped Naruto and he ran after her, "W-wait! Sakura-chan!" He yelled, following her into her office. She threw the papers on her desk and sat down, immediately turning to her papers and ignoring the blond.

Naruto shut the door and remained by it. Silence fell in the room, with Sakura not bothering to make any effort to acknowledge him.

He cleared his throat and spoke hesitantly, noting the girls anger, "Erm, I came to say thank you for attending yesterday." He spoke quietly, nerves keeping him against the door.

She got up and threw some papers into the cabinet behind her, slamming it shut, causing Naruto to jump. She turned to face him and smiled, "Of course. I wouldn't want you to get angry at me again. You know for not attending your special night, or not specifically telling _you_ about my false engagement rumours, because you've been so honest with me, haven't you, Naruto?" She said, sarcasm and bitterness evident in her voice.

"Err, ye-" He began, but a relentless Sakura continued.

"You know it's kind of funny how you came over and started shouting at me for not telling you something so small, which wasn't even true and making _me_ feel bad for not telling you considering how long we've known each other, when all along you've had your own little news that you never mentioned."

Naruto looked away, confused at the girl's choice of words.

"I mean, I know your an idiot and you've got the memory of a fish, literally." She stated with a sarcastic smile, "But things like this, a person never forgets. They tell everyone, everywhere, all the time." She finished, her face now straight.

"Erm, Sakura-chan, you're not making any sen-"

"I'm talking about your HOKAGE SUCCESSION!" She yelled, letting her anger out.

Naruto's eyes widened and he was filled with shock and fear.

"Ahh tha-" He began, stopped by an angry Sakura lunging at him. He quickly moved to the right, dodging her deadly strike.

"Sa-Sakura-chan!" He yelped, looking back at the girl, anger seeping through her.

"What?! You're going to make excuses now?!" She shouted, leaping at him again. Naruto moved quickly over to the side of the bed, making sure to keep the bed between them. She began walking around it, trying to contain her anger.

"You come marching over to my house, almost slamming the door in my face, angry because poor you was never told that the rumours were false. You make me feel like I'd done something wrong and apologise, when you've had this huge news all along!" She yelled following Naruto around the bed.

"I-I-I was going to tell you! I swear! I just-" He said, trying to defend himself, whilst quickening his pace around the bed.

"What? You just want? You just couldn't find the right time? Huh? Is that it? Well guess what!? That doesn't matter! In your own words, I had enough time to tell you about the false rumour, I mean I had been back four days! Four days! Imagine that! God knows how you'd feel if I hadn't told you for, I dunno, a WHOLE WEEK!" She shouted, directly referring to his anger in their previous fight.

"Sa-" Naruto re-started.

"You know, fine. Fine I didnt specifically tell you. But at least you were told by someone whose close to you! Me? I was told by Gaara-san! Gaara-san! He doesn't even live in the village, he hasn't even spoken to you properly because of all his work and he knew before me! I just met you last night and still you say nothing!" She yelled, getting frustrated by their continuous circling of the bed.

Her anger getting the better of her, she grabbed a hold of the bed and slide in violently to the left, leaving the space between her and Naruto opened. Before he could react she had leapt at him and tackled him to ground. She had a hold of his collar, and with no speech from the boy her right hand formed a fist. Before she could make any contact, smoke suddenly blurred her vision. Shaking her head she quickly looked through it and noticed Naruto gone from her clutches.

"Sakura-chan, please calm down!" Naruto pleaded from behind her.

She jerked her head around quickly, seeing him standing by her desk.

_Kage bunshin? When did he do that? _She thought confused.

"Just let me talk!" He said, begging for her to contain her anger.

She stood up and dusted herself off, turning to look at him, anger still visible on her face. She remained silent and glared at him.

Taking that as his chance to speak, he gulped, "I was told quite recently, couple months ago, 2-3 months actually. I wasn't really expecting it, I was feeling quite down at the time..." He began, averting his eyes away from her.

"Then suddenly, baa-chan calls me in and tells me she's stepping down soon and wants me to be her successor." He continued, a light smile appearing. "I was so happy, I couldn't believe it. The news lifted me so much and I completely forgot about being sad. At first I thought she only made the announcement to make me happy but she told me I deserved it and that my dad became Hokage at this age too." He finished, the smile now more evident on his face.

Sakura remained by the window, her arms crossed, but her eyes softening at the happiness radiating from him. She looked to the floor, her anger at the situation still embedded within her, but now more contained.

"Something so amazing and such a huge achievement like this, and you were able to keep it in? Never even thought about mentioning it?" She questioned looking up at the boy.

"No! I did want to tell you! In fact I planned to tell you that time we were in that small cafe! But then we got talking about your engagement and then Hiashi-san came..." He said, muttering the latter.

"That wasn't the only time we spoke. Well first we met in the street and you moved as far away from me as possible, then, oh yeah, how could I forget, you barged into my house and shouted at me for no reason really!" She started, counting on her fingers and her voice raising.

"Then when we made up in the training grounds, oh, and of course last night, during your engagement party. Now compared to the ONE time I had seen you, I'd say you had plenty more chances to tell me something so important as this, wouldn't you?" She finished, looking at the boy questioningly.

"Yeah. Your right." He answered quietly.

Seeing the change in his demeanour and the lack of defence from him, Sakura softened her glare and sighed.

"Was it really the false engagement you were angry at?" She asked quietly, her eyes moving towards him.

"Yes. And no." He finally answered after much silence. "I was angry at not knowing, three months this was going around for. It did come as a shock to know that that idiot Sai got it wrong. But that wasn't just it. You left without saying goodbye. You told me you'd leave on the weekend, then I wake up and you're gone. Sasuke told me. He was there to say good bye and that hurt even more." He continued, moving over to the sink, his back towards her. A tinge of pain hit her and she looked to the floor, upset at his hurt.

"I guess all the emotions just came flooding back to me and I lashed out. I shouldn't have done that, it was wrong of me and I am sorry." He finished, his eyes still on the sink.

"As for this, the Hokage news, to tell you the truth, I was angry before about everything, then when we began talking again, I was just happy."

Sakura's eyes jolted up at his back, confused at his words. "Happy?"

"Yeah! I was happy you were back! Back in your village, where you belong! I was happy we were talking again! Now I had my team back, all in the same village again! I guess I just completely forgot about it." He answered, smiling widely.

She sighed, "I guess we're both in the wrong then." Shaking her head. She looked up at him and smiled, "Your such an idiot. Only you would forget something big as that, over a little change." She said making her way to her desk.

"Plus I had the party to think about too." He said, turning around, nodding.

Sakura froze at her cabinet, her back towards him. "Right." She said, her thoughts flashing back to the previous night and the picture of him and Hinata on stage, her having witnessed his affection towards her. "About that." She said turning around, smiling widely.

"I wanted to say, that I really enjoyed myself."

"You did?" He asked in amazement.

"Mm!" She nodded, "Of course I did! The stalls, the food, the lights, everything was amazing!" She exclaimed, looking down at the desk.

"I'm really pleased for you and Hinata." She paused, "And I really want us to be friends. Now that we've talked about things properly. Yeah?" She asked, looking at him.

He looked down at her green eyes and smiled widely, "Yeah that sounds great!"

"Good. Now get out, I've got to tidy things up and get on with my work that you interrupted." She said, frowning and settling in her chair.

"So does this mean I won't be assaulted if I see you again?" He asked making his way to the door.

"Sorry, I can't promise you that." She replied, smirking.

"What? Why?"

"Because it's you. And you're bound to do something stupid pretty soon." She answered shaking her head.

He let out a light chuckle, looking to the floor, "I've changed." He said looking up at her.

"Right, and I'm a bad cook!" She joked.

"Well-" He began, ready to agree with her before she shot him a deathly stare.

"Get out now." She growled, leading him to leap out the door and shutting it behind him. Smiling faintly at his antics, Sakura returned to the work in front of her.

* * *

He was walking down the streets with a huge grin plastered on his face. Greeting the passers-by happily, he radiated contentment.

The sun beat down less heavily today on the village. It was hot nonetheless, but there was a cool breeze passing through, blowing his blond hair lightly, his bangs brushing on his forehead. He was aware of his not telling Sakura that he would become Hokage soon, it had only added to the guilt he felt after shouting at her in her apartment. The hurt and anger he felt from two years ago had built within him long enough, and he unwillingly unleashed it on the smallest of whim.

He hadn't mentioned it to Hinata when she returned from dinner with her sister that night. He went to bed early, her believing he was asleep sensed nothing wrong. The reality was he had hardly slept. The events of a few hours ago replayed over and over again, throughout the night. Anger, at himself, at her and at Sai kept him up most of the night. Despite his lack of sleep, he had still left the house early, trying to throw himself into the final preparations of the engagement party planned for that night. His exhaustion had led him to the old training grounds, where he rested, his mind returning to the unfinished business.

When she arrived he didnt know how to feel. Relieved she'd come to see him despite their fight, indicating her want to make amends, but the memories of the past and the hurt he'd endured creeping in adding to his anger. He thought he could stay mad at her, until he felt her rage. She was right after all, he didnt try to stop her from leaving the village in the first place. Her pleading struck the guilt that was building within him. With his momentary lapse of judgment getting the better of him previously, he knew he couldn't stay mad at the pink kunoichi. He was always one to forgive quickly, especially when it came to her. Although they had made up briefly, he knew there was still unfinished business between them.

And so having had everything cleared and out in the open now between himself and Sakura brought great relief to Naruto. A heavy weight had been lifted off of him, evident through his light stroll around the village, the wide smile unmoved.

"You seem happy Naruto." Neji commented.

He was lost in his blissfulness that he hadn't noticed the Hyuga walking towards him, "Neji! I am happy, why wouldn't I be?!" He replied, bringing his arms down from behind his head.

The Hyuga had accepted the engagement instantly, out of his deep respect for both his clan and Naruto. As a result he remained friendly towards Naruto, despite his conflicted feelings.

"Right, of course, Hinata's been the same all day too." Neji spoke, solemnly.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Err, wh- Oh yeah yeah! Of course she would be happy! The party was great last night!" Naruto quickly replied.

"Yeah...wait what else are you so happy about then?" Neji inquired, noting the boys forgetfulness.

"Hmm? Nothing!" Naruto smirked, earning a glare form Neji.

"I just met with Sakura-chan and we got a few things cleared up that's all!" Naruto replied, sighing at his defeat.

"Sakura? I see..." Neji said, nodding knowingly.

"Well yeah, we weren't really on great terms before, but I just saw her now and we patched things up!" A chirpy Naruto explained, walking past Neji.

"Patched things up? Does Hinata know about this?" Neji asked, following him.

Naruto turned to face Neji slowly, slight confusion and suspicion present in his eyes as to what the Hyuga was implying, "No, she doesn't. It's not like I planned this, I went to say thank you for attending last night and we got talking." Naruto stated, fully facing Neji, staring into his eyes.

"If there's something you want to say Neji, then say it." He continued, confused at his change in demeanour.

As per his gentlemen like demeanour, Neji had been fully supportive of Naruto and Hinata's relationship, lending help whenever needed, enjoying meals and outings with them. Even now that they were engaged he had gone so far as to nominate himself as the pairs close personal aide, something Naruto took as him just being overprotective of Hinata due to the fact that Neji had hardly assisted Naruto with anything and seemed to be more concerned for the girl instead.

His closeness to Hinata was now more evident, something that hadn't gone unnoticed by many people, unlike the ever oblivious Naruto. His developing feelings for the Hyuga princess had caused her great discomfort, for reasons he did not know.

The thought of Hinata refrained him from expressing his true thoughts. "No. There's nothing." He finally breathed an answer.

"You sure?" Naruto asked, quirking his eyebrows at him.

"Yes I am sure Naruto." Neji stated, turning away from him and walking along the street.

Naruto remained there, staring at his back for a few seconds.

_Wonder what that was all about_. He thought, making his way home.

When he reached his door he could smell the sweet aroma of red bean soup wafting through it. His eyes lit up immediately at the smell and swiftly entered his apartment.

"Naruto-kun? Is that you?" Hinata yelled from the kitchen.

"Yeah it's me Hinata!" He yelled back, taking his shoes off. He walked over to the kitchen and saw Hinata standing over the hot stove, a violet apron tied around her and her dark hair tied up.

He walked over to the stove and breathed in deeply, taking in the tantalizing smell radiating from the pot.

"What do you think?" Hinata asked, smiling expectantly.

"It smells great!" He answered, giving her his infamous wide smile. "That means it must taste great too!" He finished.

Hinata smiled, a slight blush appearing on her face, turning it quickly to the stove to hide it. "Well its almost done, so why dont you get dressed and I'll call you when we can eat?" She said, walking over to get some dishes.

Naruto agreed and turned around, making his way to the bedroom. He stopped by the dining table, Neji's words ringing in his ear, _"Does Hinata know about this?" _

He thought for a moment then turned to look at her again, "Hinata." He spoke, her looking up at him quickly, startled he was still in the room.

"Yes?" She asked, noting the seriousness in his voice.

"I saw Sakura-chan today." He answered, looking into her milky white eyes.

Her brows raised and her gaze went down to the dishes on the counter. "Oh right." She said.

"Yeah, I was saying our thank you's to everyone and I went to her too. But we kinda ended up fighting..." He said, lightly scratching his cheek.

She chuckled lightly at this. He looked at her confused, "What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing, just you and Sakura-san, you always end up fighting somehow." She replied, shaking her head.

Upon seeing the confused look remaining on his face she quickly spoke, "No not in a bad way! In a funny way!" She cleared, earning a smile and a nod from him.

"Yeah, well we talked about baa-chan making me Hokage soon..." He began, scratching his head. "But the thing is, we cleared up some stuff so things aren't awkward anymore." He continued, smiling happily.

Hinata looked at the boy sideways and returned his smile, "That's wonderful! I'm so pleased!" She said, clapping her hands together.

He nodded at her and walked back to the bedroom, she returning to the food.

Once he had a quick shower and changed into more comfortable clothes, he sat on his bed going through some of the work Tsunade had told him to read and understand. The bedroom was large, by anyone's standards, with an en-suite to the left of the room upon entering. A huge king-size bed draped in black took centre stage against a monochrome wall. The wall to its right had light brown cupboards built in, extending along the length of it. A white dressing table with white lights adorning the mirror-frame sat opposite the large bed, primed in position near the large windows to the left of the room.

Naruto sat on the side of the bed, facing towards the large windows with the sun shining brightly through, illuminating the room. He looked down at the paperwork in confusion, struggling to understand some of the more complicated, and unnecessary words in the document. To his right, next to the bed, sat a small side table with three drawers.

A similar drawer sat outside in the dining room, but much larger. On it, it had a number of photographs, all individually framed. They included all of his memories, his team 7 photograph on the right and a photo of him, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon on the left. The one taking centre stage was of him and Hinata, taken on their first date, his hand draped around her shoulder pulling her close while her cheeks blushed a dark shade of red. The rest of the table overflowed with pictures of himself and sometimes Hinata too, with members of the Hyuga clan. Someone with a keen, observant eye, would notice the last picture, tucked in behind the forest of Hyuga's. It was framed in a rich red colour, with swirls linking the corners elegantly. Dust was evident on the frame, indicating the ignorance towards it.

They were seated at a bench, having a well deserved rest after having had completed a successful mission with Sai. They were sitting so comfortably close to each other, their arms rubbing. With a toothy smile, Naruto's head leaned in towards Sakura's, who mirrored the gesture, her sincere smile accompanying her relaxed pose. It was different from the rest of the photos in that it was hand drawn, courtesy of Sai by request of Naruto. Sai's drawing technique had improved greatly so that the picture looked eerily like a real photograph. It took a while to perfect it and once he did he gave it to Naruto who had always kept it in his living room.

Now he kept it hidden and pushed away from sight, far in the back, much like the thoughts he had desperately fought to forget. Memories he had banished from his mind in an attempt to move on. His attempts and convincing words to himself only added to the deception that he had finally moved on. The memories and feelings he thought he had forced out had, just like the picture frame, only been gathering dust.

* * *

When she finally finished the sun had begun setting, orange light bathing her office. She walked out towards the front desk, saying good bye to the staff when she noticed a familiar figure in the waiting area.

"Ino?" Sakura said walking over to the girl.

"Geez, finally!" Ino replied, getting up from the beige chair. "They said you asked not to be disturbed so I waited out here." She continued, smiling at her confused friend.

"R-right." Sakura spoke, remembering her instructions to the staff after Naruto's intrusion and the lack of work she had got done. "Sorry about that, I had lots to do." She finished, smiling sheepishly.

"Well you can make it up to me by going out for dinner." Ino replied, walking towards the front door.

"Please, I'm not _that_ sorry." Sakura smirked following her friend.

"Mmm, either way, we're going." Ino stated.

"So that's why you came over?" Sakura inquired confused at her sudden appearance.

"Of course! Thought it'd be nice to see you, plus I doubt you've got anything made at home that's barely edible." Ino answered, matter-of-fact like.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the girl, "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked as they made their way into a restaurant.

The restaurant was new, one of many built recently. It had a theme of white, black and silver and exuded elegance. The front of the building was made entirely of glass. The big door in the centre was also glassed and had intricately designed silver door handles. The tables were in all different shapes and sizes. They had small squared tabled upon the entrance on either side. Moving down further in the restaurant, booths with black leather seats were fitted in along the sides, against the wall. The lighting was also different from the front, where it was brighter, here it was darker and more dimly lt.

A series of small circular tables were placed in the middle. They were draped in a while cloth, with a single white candle in the middle of it and small bouquet of black flowers next to it.

_Bit romantic isn't it? _Sakura thought to herself as she made her way behind Ino, annoyed at the girl.

Ino followed one of the waiters to their designated table and sat down at the small, circular table. "It means you can't cook right." She answered, opening up the menu.

"What? Yes I can!" Sakura snapped, refusing to sit down with her hands on her hips, staring down at the blonde.

"Please, Sakura your cooking is sh-" She began, quickly noting the girls building anger, she changed her words, "Its...unique." She finished smiling at her then looking back at the menu.

Sakura sighed loudly, shaking her head slightly, noting the quick cover up by her purple clothed friend. "First Naruto, now you." She muttered, pulling out the chair and taking a seat.

"Naruto?" Ino asked quickly, her eyes shooting up at Sakura, receiving a nod from her.

Ino put the menu down, her attention now fixed on her friend, "I-he-What?" She stammered, not knowing how to go about it.

"What, what?" Sakura asked, confused at her friends stammering.

"I mean, why did, how did," She tried, sighing loudly, "Dont say things like that and not elaborate!" She yelled annoyed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sakura snapped back, noting Ino's sudden frustration.

"Naruto. You said something about him." Ino replied, trying to calm down.

"Naruto...? Oh, you idiot I just meant he tried to make a comment about me being a bad cook like you did too." Sakura cleared looking down at the menu.

"Oh right," Ino relaxed, leaning back in her chair, her eyes remaining at Sakura, "So you've seen him today then?"

"Yeah, he came round to the hospital." Sakura answered, reading the wide variety of dishes.

"What did he want?"

"He came to say thank you for coming to the party yesterday." Sakura said nonchalantly.

"Hmm. _I_ never got that." Ino said, meeting green eyes, smiling faintly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing. Just, he probably went out of his way to come and see you, specifically." The blonde replied, smirking down at the menu.

"Mmm, you'd be right if weren't for the rest of the staff who he'd thanked prior to me." Sakura said, the smiling wiping off Ino.

"Pfft, how do you know th-" Ino began.

"They told me." Sakura cut in, proudly, " I think I was the last to know..."

"Oh. That's annoying." Ino muttered.

"Why is it?" Sakura said quietly, not expecting an answer.

"You should've been one of the first dont you think?" Ino answered her, startling Sakura.

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"Why should I have been?" Sakura counteracted.

"Because you're-you're friends!" Ino said, her voice raising slightly.

"So? Just because you're friends with someone doesn't mean you necessarily know everything about them!" Sakura replied, sighing loudly.

Ino mimicked her sigh and called over the waiter, the pair placing their orders. After much silence between them, Sakura finally spoke.

"We argued. Well, to be honest I argued, he spoke." She said looking at the people around her.

"As expected." Ino remarked.

"What?" Sakura jerked her head to the girl.

"You arguing and him speaking. Its normal." She clarified.

"Really? That weren't the case before." Sakura muttered, loudly.

"Before? You argued before too? When?" A perked up Ino questioned.

"You know when I said he'd found out about the fake engagement? He came round and asked me about it and he was fuming." Sakura began, her eyes locking on the while napkin, unblinking, as if she was entranced. Ino remained silent, allowing her to continue.

"He's never been that angry at me before. Ever. At one point I was actually scared." Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes went to her lap.

"I mean he was right, I hadn't told him about it so I kind of understood his anger. That's what made me go find him the next day and luckily we made up-ish." She said, looking up, her eyes meeting Ino's.

"And then today I find out from Gaara-san that Tsunade-sama announced him as the next Hokage!" Sakura's mood changing to anger caused Ino eyes to widen and she began leaning away from the table upon seeing her clenched fist.

"And when he came round today, I was so angry and annoyed and insulted that I was made to feel so guilty about something I had no control over and I couldn't contain it." Sakura continued her voice was now raised, causing the people around her to shush her and give the pair annoying glares.

Sakura apologised, embarrassingly and regained her composure. Her voice now calm and at a quieter level, "You know the funny thing is, after all of this, I still feel in the wrong."

"What?! Why?!" Ino asked, baffled by her admission.

"I left without saying good bye to him. Instead of telling him when I was leaving, I lied to him and told Sasuke-kun. I hurt him and didnt even know that." She said solemnly, her head dropping slightly.

"Yeah, but you had good reason too! You didnt want to make saying good bye harder. That's what you told me that night." Ino stated, referring to her meeting with Sakura the night before she left.

"Yeah that's right. But in doing so I still hurt him, indirectly." Sakura replied. Ino had no words for Sakura and gave her a small smile. They were interrupted by the waiter bringing over their food. The girls tucked in, forgetting about the conversation for a bit, relishing in the warm, savoury dish.

"You never told me what happened after the war." Ino spoke finally when taking a sip from her water.

"Hmm?" Sakura asked, wiping her mouth with the napkin.

"The war. You and Naruto, you never told me if you spoke about things, like you know your confession?" Ino explained, returning to her food.

"Oh that, no, no we didnt speak about it at all." Sakura replied.

"You didnt?" Ino asked, receiving a shake of the head from Sakura.

"Not even a little?" Ino continued, followed by another shake from Sakura. Ino narrowed her eyes at Sakura, confused.

"What?" Sakura asked, annoyed at her piercing blue eyes.

"I find that hard to believe." She said.

"Well believe it. We never spoke about it, actually, we never really got much time to speak for a while. We were so busy with everything. He was dead set on helping to rebuild the village and I was working in the hospital more while helping Sasuke-kun and Karin settle back into the village too. So we never had time to relax you know?" Sakura explained, drinking her water.

"And then when things finally started to calm down and become more normal, I guess we were just so happy and distracted at having Sasuke-kun back on the team that it never came up." Sakura finished looking over at Ino.

"That's a shame." Ino said. The pair had finished eating and were drinking their drinks slowly, "Its a bigger shame he's engaged now." Ino muttered to her drink.

Sakura looked up at her quickly, surprised at her remark, "What?" She asked, confused.

Ino looked up at her and saw her confusion, "No, no I dont mean their engagement is a shame! Not that! I just meant, that now he's engaged and you know where his feelings lie now." Ino quickly explained.

Sakura nodded, understanding her friend, "Yeah..." Sakura replied quietly, her eyes on her drink.

"You never know though?!" Ino joked, winking at Sakura, attempting to lift her.

"No, I do. Last night, when you all left I stayed for a while longer and everyone was gathered at the huge stage. I saw them come up, Hiashi-san was talking at the front and the two of them were there behind him. I was looking at Naruto and thinking how much things had changed and I thought I'd saw him looking at me, but then I saw him turn to Hinata. He was so soft and affectionate with her." She explained, her eyes dimming.

"It was the first time I'd seen them together, like that. I dont know what happened to me, but I began moving forward, drawn closer to them as if I wanted to see them more clearly. If it weren't for Mitsuo-san I probably would've gone barging into someone and looking like a right idiot." She joked smiling faintly.

Ino returned her faint smile but remained quiet.

She sighed loudly, brushing a hand through her hair, "If anything I guess you're right. Last night showed me where his feelings lie, and they lie with her. I can't say I'm not upset, but I can't say I'm not happy either." She continued, the latter confusing Ino slightly.

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm happy that he's happy." She stated smiling.

"Even if you're not?" Ino asked.

"I never said that. The last thing I said to him was to promise me he'd find happiness and someone to share it with. And that's what he's done. He listened to my promise and I'm glad he did." Sakura cleared.

"So what are _you_ going to do now then?" Ino asked, referring to her own feelings.

"Nothing." Sakura answered.

"Nothing?" Ino repeated.

"Yep, nothing." Sakura said smiling at her.

"What? Sakura you-"

"I can't just come back to Konoha after two years and say, 'Oh hey Naruto! Sorry for being out of your life for two years, no matter what's changed or who you might be engaged to, but here hold my hand and lets run away together!'" Sakura hissed, whispering the latter so no one except Ino would hear.

"Run away together?!" Ino repeated, smirking slyly.

"Argh shut up!" Sakura shouted at her friend, trying to compress a smile. "My point is, I've been away for a while. People have changed and moved on. I can't just expect everything to be the way it was when I left." She finished, getting her belongings.

They paid the bill and left the restaurant. The sun had now settled and the night sky made its presence, along with the numerous stars scattered across it. A colder breeze was now present as Sakura and Ino walked down the road.

Sakura's exhaustion was more evident now, she was yawning more often and rubbing her eyes.

"You look half dead!" Ino remarked, laughing at the girls tired appearance.

"Yeah well if it weren't for _someone_, I would've been in bed a long time ago." Sakura replied, giving Ino an annoyed glare.

They had reached Ino's house when she turned to face Sakura, "I'm really glad we got to talk Sakura." She said smiling at her.

"Yeah me too. I've missed it!" Sakura replied earnestly.

"Same here. We've got to do this more." Ino said, earning a nod from Sakura.

"And listen, everything you said today, I promise I'll keep it to myself yeah. I won't tell no one, not even Shikamaru, especially because of his big mouth before." She said rolling her eyes.

Sakura chuckled lightly and nodded, "Thank you Ino!" She hugged her good bye and made her way to her house.

The full moon present in the sky, shone down on the village, lighting up the streets. The cold breeze against her skin caused her to shudder slightly, but her exhaustion prevented her from picking up her pace.

She looked up at the Hokage mountain, at the faces on it. She smiled at the thought of seeing his face up there, next to Tsunade. He isn't one to pose, not seriously anyways, and the thought of seeing a serious, mature Naruto on the mountain made her chuckle lightly to herself.

She didnt want to not say good bye to him before she left for Suna. She had wanted him there the most, but she knew how difficult it would've been for him and herself to say goodbye. She often wondered if she would even be able to leave had he been there. She'd also wonder what he would've said to her had he been there, would he tell her to stay? Would she stay? Would she tell him how she felt? And what would've been his response?

Questions like these would play havoc with her mind when she arrived at Suna. It took her a while to adjust to living away from him, from everyone. Her attention had always been somewhere else that she hadn't noticed how dangerous it really was, until she almost made a fatal mistake on a patient during a class. The experience shook her and she knew she had to forget and move on. Accept that this was her life now, without Konoha, without him.

And that was what she was doing now. Accepting that he'd moved on too. He was happy now, settled and content with a bright future. She accepted he was engaged and he was in love. She herself had accepted her own feelings for him, which helped her make her decision to gloss over them. Leave them alone to not complicate things for him or herself. After all this is what she wanted, she wanted him to find happiness and find someone who brought him happiness.

What also had helped her make this decision was the fact that she was only in Konoha for a short while, as a mission even. Soon she'd be back in Suna and all of this would be behind her.

* * *

This chapter was harder to write and I dont know if it turned out well, **so please review!**

Thank you :)


	7. Changing of the Seasons

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Changing of the seasons**

It had been 2 months since Sakura had returned to the village. Her training of the new medics was progressing well, albeit a little slow and she had settled back comfortably, despite her annoyance at the length of her stay as she had been expecting and wanting to return to Suna as soon as possible but had underestimated the amount of help the new trainees would need.

Nevertheless, she kept busy and devoted herself to training for lengthy hours a day in an attempt to speed up the duration of her stay.

The village had been under repair and with the added help of the sand siblings, it had now returned to its familiar look with a few new additions, whilst Tsunade continued her peace talks with the surrounding countries with the support of the Kazekage and was also making smooth progress.

On top of her training and helping out in the hospital, Sakura had steadily improved her relationship with Naruto, much due to his constant visits to the hospital as part of his Hokage training, and her responsibility of guiding him throughout the hospital due to being the head medic.

She enjoyed his visits, not that she'd admit it, and savoured the chance to talk to her best friend as they had done previously. Forgetting of the outside world and its problems, she'd laugh and joke and scold him, reminiscent of old times.

That sweet dream would be shattered in a matter of minutes upon the arrival of his fiancée or her family. Pulled out of her fantasy world within the walls of the hospital, she'd return to reality, where the one she loved was promised to another and as such ended most of her nights on a sour note.

It came to a point where the rosette was fed up of feeling sorry for herself and frustrated at her constant longing. She had now come to accept the circumstances of her life and how it had all panned out. She threw herself into work and blocked out all feelings she had once held onto so heartedly.

Presently, she was surrounded by a group of trainees as she worked on an injured patient in one of the operating rooms. With her hair tied up in a messy bun and her bangs falling down framing her face, she looked every inch the head medic she was.

She was supervising two of the trainees who were attempting to heal the patient, when Natsume entered the room.

"Sakura-san, there's someone here to meet you." She whispered to her.

Nodding at her assistant, she ushered one of the watching hospital medics to take over as she washed her hands and disposed of her gloves and apron.

Pulling her hair down from its tied up form, she pushed opened the green doors to see Natsume on the left standing with a tall, dark haired male.

Smiling at him and then at Natsume she walked closer.

"Ren-kun, this is Sakura-san." Natsume announced, gesturing towards the rosette.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sakura-san." The male said, extending a hand to her.

Shaking it, Sakura smiled and then turned to Natsume, still confused. But before the assistant could speak, he had already begun his self introduction.

"My name is Ren Asahara, I've been sent here from the leader of Tanigakure who's currently in talks with Tsunade-sama about building trust between our countries." He stated, smiling.

"Right..." Sakura replied, still unsure about what it had to do with her.

"And as such, I've been sent to help Konoha with treating its injured or ill. You have my services for however long you need them." He finished, bowing quickly.

Sakura looked over to Natsume, the two exchanging confused, yet impressed looks.

"Erm, ok. That's great. But I dont really see why-" Sakura began, interrupted by her assistant.

"Ah, Sakura-san, Tsunade-sama said for Ren-kun to be allowed to shadow you and be under your command throughout the hospital." She explained.

Understanding things much better Sakura nodded, "I see, that makes more sense." She joked, earning a chuckle from the two in front of her.

"So tell me, how much medical training do you have?" She inquired. "I mean, would you be able to treat the patients here?"

"Yes, yes, of course! I've been training since I was about 14!" He replied, earning an acknowledging nod from Sakura.

"That's great, I guess we can use your assistance in treating our patients then?" She asked, receiving a nod from him.

She spent the most of the morning with Ren, guiding him through the hospital and explaining all of the procedures. The two had got along quickly and were working and talking with each other with ease and comfort, albeit having just met.

"Yamanaka Ino for Haruno Sakura please." A voice came from behind Sakura. She turned to look at a platinum blonde girl smirking at her.

"What's with the formalness?" Sakura questioned, handing a file to the receptionist.

Following the rosette down the corridor, Ino tried speaking but broke out in a series of huffs, "Hah!" She gasped, "Looks like I'm actually **not** in shape after having the baby!" She breathed, earning a loud laugh from her friend.

"Yeah, you keep laughing, wait till it's you." Ino mumbled the latter.

Getting a bottle of water from a nearby vending machine, Sakura handed it to the girl, still smirking at her.

"Why are you here if you can barely walk?" She asked.

"I **can** walk! It's you!" Ino replied, annoyance evident.

"Me?! What did I do?!" Sakura yelled back, hurt by her friends blame.

"Y-you! You walk so fast!" Ino breathed.

Sakura looked at her friend for a few seconds and resumed her laughing. "Oh Ino!" She said, helping her friend up. "Fine, I'll walk extra slow for you." She said, walking by her friends side.

A pleased Ino nodded at her and began their slow journey down the corridors.

"So what is it you want?" Sakura asked whilst being handed a file from a passing nurse.

"Nothing much, just felt like coming to see you." Ino replied nonchalantly.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her friend and nodded slowly, "Uh-huh..."

"Really! I did!" Ino protested, failing to convince Sakura. She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, "Fine! There is something."

"I knew it." Sakura replied, shaking her head, "Go on then."

"Well, it's just, I'm worried about you." Ino stated seriously.

"Worried about me?!" Sakura asked, stopping in the middle of the corridor.

"Yeah, I mean we've not spoke about things for a while..." Ino began.

"Wha-what things?"

"You know, Naruto and-" Ino started.

"Oh god Ino! What is there to talk about! I've told you before, everything's ok!" Sakura yelled, being quietened by Ino.

Sakura closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, "Look, if there's anything to talk about then I'll come to you okay?" She said looking up at her.

Ino sighed, then nodded and continued their walk around the hospital, "Yeah, I know. I just dont want to see you end up alone in a one-bedroom apartment with a million cats." Ino said, solemnly.

"Wha-I'm not going to be some sort of spinster!" Sakura complained.

"Well how do you know that?! Some people, they go everyday trying to find their love and get no success and each day they lay in wait for the one that's meant to be for them, growing lonelier and older as the long days go on." Ino replied, her hands clutched to her chest and her eyes dreamlike, thoughts drifting elsewhere.

Sakura looked at her in confusion and snapped her fingers, bringing her back. "Well I'm **not** going to be like that!"

"Yeah but how do you know for sure?!" Ino whined.

"Because I do! There's someone for everyone! One minute you're going about your life then BAM it hits you right in the face." Sakura explained looking at her friend, who was nodding slowly, considering her answer.

As Sakura turned the corner, she was greeted with a hard folder smacking her in the face, sending her to the ground.

"Whoa!" A male voice bellowed, during the collision.

"Sakura!" Ino yelled, who had instinctively taken a step back. Before she could, Sakura had already begun being helped up by a tall brown haired man.

"I'm so sorry Sakura-san!" Ren apologised, holding Sakura by both arms as he lifted her off the ground.

"Re-Ren?" Sakura questioned rubbing her nose. "Wha-" She started.

"I was just going to deliver these to the front desk but I wasn't watching where I was going." He answered once she had straightened herself up.

"Ahh no! That's alright, I'm sorry too! My attention was elsewhere." Sakura replied, pointing to a shocked, yet smiling Ino.

"Hello." Ren said, gesturing his hand towards her.

"Hi." Ino replied, shaking it.

"Ren this is Ino, Ino this is Ren. He's a new medic sent from Tanigakure to help with the patients." Sakura explained.

"And Ren this is Ino-" She began, only to be interrupted by Ino.

"Yamanaka Ino. I'm Sakura's best friend. I'm also a medic here but I'm off for a while, just had a baby." Ino boasted.

"Wow! That's amazing! You dont look like you had a baby!" Ren replied, adding to Ino's proud smirk.

"Yeah, why dont you try asking her to walk for a bit." Sakura mumbled, earning a slight nudge from Ino.

"Well it was pleasure to meet you Ino-san, I should get going now." Ren said smiling at the blonde and Sakura, making his way past them.

"Oh wait, Ren, could you tell Natsume I have to be at the academy in a bit so if she could brief the trainees for next week's session please?" Sakura asked, moving past Ino and towards Ren.

"Yes of course Sakura-san." He said nodding and walking away from the two girls.

Sakura smiled and turned to see a wide-eyed Ino looking at her.

"What?" She asked, walking past her.

"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed.

"What?"

"That's it!" Ino said, confusing Sakura, "That's your BAM!"

"My what?"

"Your BAM! It's what you were talking about!" Ino continued, ignoring her friends confusion.

"Look, I have no idea what you're talking about and I've got to go to the academy now so...go away." Sakura replied, pushing her friend slightly.

"Oh my god, this is so great! Your totally not going to be a spinster now!" Ino squealed, walking away, resembling a mad woman talking to herself.

Sakura remained standing, watching her friend exit the hospital, clapping excitedly.

_What the hell got into her?_ She thought to herself, walking back to her office.

* * *

Sakura stepped out of the hospital to be met by gust of cold air sweeping past her and in through the closing doors. She shivered slightly and continued her journey away from the hospital and down the road.

The weather had slowly been changing, the sweltering heat that had greeted her upon her arrival back to the village had subsided and the changing of the seasons was in full swing. Crossing her hands across her chest and rubbing her arms gently she made her way past the villagers and the opened stalls.

There was a sense of togetherness about the village at this time of year, one which hadn't changed throughout the years. The neighbours would all come together helping each other out during the colder months and as such, despite the cold enveloping the village, a sense of warmth was felt.

Karin had asked Sakura to come in and give a talk about health and safety, one she felt her students were in desperate need of courtesy of their constant visits to the academy nurse.

Sakura had hesitantly agreed, unsure of whether she'd have enough time to, but her hard work in the previous months had paid off and the hospital was now operating smoothly, allowing her and the staff some time off.

She stepped into the academy and could still smell the freshly painted walls. It had been a while since she had come here, spending most of her time in the hospital and as such she took her time walking down the hallway.

Pictures of past students and their present achievements were hung up on either side of the hallway. She smiled looking at them, recognising her friends. Squirming slightly upon seeing a younger picture of herself, she quickly moved along to see a picture of young blond with a toothy smile adjacent to her.

Looking up at the picture she chuckled, shaking her head at the picture in which Iruka could be seen in the distance, looking not so pleased. Tip-toeing slightly she moved to read the inscription, "UZUMAKI NARUTO" She read aloud to herself.

"THE 6TH HOKAGE" She continued below the name.

_The 6th Hokage?_ She thought to herself. _These pictures must have been put up recently then._ She thought, looking around her.

Sighing loudly she continued her way down the corridor and stopped outside a brown door, "UCHIHA KARIN" was emblazoned in the middle at the top of the door. Breathing out sharply, she knocked on the door and slowly opened it, peeking her head through.

Karin stood at the front of the room by her desk, in the middle of talking to her students. She turned to look at the familiar rosette. Gesturing her to come in, Sakura opened the door quietly and stepped into the familiar room, one she had spent many a time in during her younger years.

The academy had been one of the many old building that had survived the attack and had benefited from the renovations around the village. New desks and facilities had been put in, the walls repainted and the floor glossed.

She remained standing by the door, smiling to herself as she eyed the room, filling with nostalgia. Unbeknownst to her, the students' attention was now solely on the pink-haired woman by the door.

Clearing her throat loudly, Karin managed to get Sakura's attention.

"Hmm?" Sakura mumbled, startled at the numerous pairs of eyes staring at her.

"Class this is Haruno Sakura, as I'm sure most of you all know." Karin began, as Sakura made her way beside her at the front of the classroom, trying to hide her embarrassment by rubbing her forehead.

"As Konoha hospitals head medic, she is here to give us a talk on everything to do with your healthcare, whether during missions or not and what it takes to be a medic-nin should any of you be interested." Karin explained. She nodded at Sakura and walked over by the window to her right.

Smiling nervously to a beaming Karin, Sakura regained her composure and began her lecture to the eagerly awaiting class.

* * *

The manor was quieter than it usually was. Ever since the announcement of her engagement, Hinatacould hardly enjoy a moments peace when she returned to the family home. Breathing in deeply the newly forming crisp Autumn air, she made her way across the silent ground and towards the main house.

Placing her shoes to one side, she slid open the large doors to the main room. With no one in sight, Hinata planted herself on the large couch, her back facing the sliding doors. Tilting her head back she closed her eyes and smiled to herself, feeling relaxed and content.

The past few months had been taking their toll on the Hyuga heiress. The constant talks of preparations and the urge by her father of setting a final date had tired her out and it was a rare occasion for her to return to the manor and be met with silence.

She had decided, with Naruto, to not set an immediate date for the wedding. The matter of her being appointed head of the Hyuga clan and Naruto's upcoming inauguration had limited their time to make preparations and so they had decided to prolong their engagement, although their decision had been met with annoyance and confusion from Hiashi and the Hyuga clan. However the young couple were adamant in making this their decision and so the others were now forced to compromise.

The unset date hadn't hindered the planning and preparations. The head of the Hyuga clan had taken it upon himself to begin sorting out things for the couple whilst dealing with other affairs. The young heiress remained a constant presence in such meetings to ensure nothing her or Naruto didnt agree with occurred.

Around the same time she had begun a relationship with Naruto, Hiashi decided to appoint Neji as her personal aid, helping her with the new responsibilities imposed on the young girl. Not only would he be there for her during any meetings or public engagements but he would also accompany her during any missions she'd be sent to.

The ease and understanding among the two had led them to become closer and more trusting of one another. She had felt comfortable with Neji around, knowing he would help with anything needed and give her his honest and best advice.

The warmth and friendliness between the two had now begun to fade, albeit on her part, courtesy of his open confession of his feelings towards the heiress, twice.

Shocked at his revelations, she had made herself clear to him about her feelings for Naruto. Accepting this he insisted on remaining by her side, if only for his own reassurance. His constant presence had become uncomfortable for the young girl, her mind and feelings playing havoc.

It had been three days since she had last seen Neji, for reasons she knew not. Although relieved at her 'freedom' her mind would still wander to the missing man. Never openly questioning his whereabouts, she was curious as to his absence. However every time her thoughts went to him, she'd forcefully snap out of her stupor and focus her attention elsewhere, such as her fiancé.

_"It's ok to be worried Hinata."_ Naruto's voice echoed in her ears, her eyes ripping open. Her attempt to hide her concern had obviously not gone unnoticed.

"Worried..." She repeated, whispering her words to the ceiling.

Before the girl could gather her thoughts, the doors slid open quickly, the room was enveloped in a cool wave of air, blowing her long locks.

Jerking her head around, her eyes widened upon seeing the familiar figure standing at the door, looking down at her.

"Ne-Neji!" She exclaimed, breathlessly.

With his arms behind his back, he entered walking in slowly and keeping his back to her.

"Are you okay? Where have you been?" She asked quickly, surprising herself with her forwardness.

Making his way to the fireplace, he remained silent, gazing down. When he finally spoke, it was quiet and soft, "I didnt think you would notice." He said keeping his eyes away from her.

"What?" She questioned, her voice quiet too.

"You're so busy nowadays I didnt think you would notice if I went off on a lone mission." He answered, finally turning to look at her.

Raising from the couch she stood facing him and spoke with worry etched in her voice, "Of course I noticed! I do care about you!" She replied, her voice raising.

"Do you?" He whispered to himself, thinking she had not heard.

"Pardon?" She asked, walking towards him.

He quickly moved past her and turned to face her again, smiling widely, "Nothing!" He exclaimed sitting down on the couch.

She herself sat on the opposite couch a sudden feeling of uneasiness creeping in.

"So how have you been?" He asked, the smile still on his face.

Returning the smile she spoke, "Good, father's been keeping me busy and I've been on some small missions too."

He nodded, acknowledging her answer. His smile slowly began to fade as he prepared himself for his next question, "And Naruto? How's he been?"

Pursing her lips for a few seconds, she took a sharp intake of breath, "Great! He was out training a few days ago and I went along to watch. He's still improving his techniques and he's becoming even stronger." She started, talking at a much faster pace, "He was sparring with Konohamaru and just when I thought he'd been beaten he comes out and surprised everyone!" She exclaimed, getting excited during her explanation.

He gave her a weak smile and leaned forward, "That's nice." He said quietly, "What about his Hokage training?" He questioned, looking up slowly at the girl.

"Erm...y-yeah, that's also going well. He's been so busy with Tsunade-sama recently, you know with learning everything." She said, playing with her hair.

"Interesting, so you'll know that he's due to give his first public speech at the academy today?" Neji asked a confused Hinata.

The beaming smile had faded and her hands had stopped their playful antics with her hair. She swallowed thickly and began fidgeting, "Wha-" She began, only to be cut off by Neji.

"I assumed you already knew that, what with him being your fiancé an all." He said in a condescending tone.

"Y-yes, of course I know!" She replied, quickly getting up and walking towards the door.

He too got up and stood by the couch looking at the shaken girl, "Hinata." He said in a serious tone. She turned to look at him slowly, keeping one hand on the door.

"If there's one thing I've learnt it's that there is a difference between love and admiration. Too often are they mixed up and the wrong feelings conveyed." He finished, his milky eyes boring into hers.

She returned his look and lingered there a few seconds before yanking the door open and disappearing behind it.

Sighed loudly, he brought his hand up to brush through his long brown hair. As he raised his arm, a sharp shooting pain pecked at him and he winced lowering it back by his side.

* * *

"Now are there any questions?" Sakura asked, smiling at the young children looking at her.

A flurry of hands shot up immediately, all eager to be picked. Sakura's eyes lit up upon seeing the reaction from them, as she prepared to call on someone she was interrupted my Karin, who was now standing beside her.

"Any questions NOT regarding her hair colour?" Karin asked, her hands on her hips.

Sakura looked at Karin in confusion and then turned to face the class. The numerous hands that had shot up so quickly before had now begun to be lowered, disappointed murmurs growing from them.

A shocked and slightly disappointed Sakura looked on at the students, regretting her previous impressed behaviour.

"Yeah that's what I thought." Karin exclaimed loudly. She turned to look at Sakura and spoke in quieter tone, "Dont worry, I got that all the time when I first started, shallow little-" She began, only to be cut off by loud cheers from the class.

The two turned to look at the now overly excited class, the boys leaping out of their chairs and waving madly, whilst the girls remained seated, smiling widely and whispering amongst each other excitedly.

Looking towards the door, which had been left opened by Karin during Sakura's lecture to let in some air, they saw a tall blond smiling widely at the class and waving clumsily.

"Naruto-nii!" A young boy yelled.

Presenting a huge toothy smile, Naruto spoke loudly and charmingly, "Good Afternoon class!" He said, receiving thirty fast replies.

Chuckling to himself, he walked in and turned his attention to the women by the desk. Walking over to them he continued to display his infamous smile as he greeted the two.

"You're here again?" Karin asked, folding her arms.

"Hmm? Oh right, yeah. Baa-chan says one of two visits isn't enough, as Sakura-chan can tell you." He said nodding at the rosette.

Sakura nodded slowly, "Yeah, about 30 more should be enough..." She said smiling faintly and rolling her eyes.

He chuckled at her sarcasm but stopped abruptly. He looked at her once again, with confusion, "Wait, Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, that's me! I asked her to come and give a talk about health and safety to the class." Karin explained, "And we were about to take questions before you disturbed us." She continued grimacing.

He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. Sakura returned a light laugh and shook her head at the exchange between the two cousins.

"It doesn't matter really. I dont think there are any questions. Besides they all seem to be more interested in you anyways Naruto." Sakura said, looking at the eager students, their eyes filled with adoration for the blond.

"Alright calm down everyone. I know how excited you all are but unfortunatley we do still have lessons to get through." Karin announced, earning groans from the kids.

She frowned at the classes' reaction then turned to face the two individuals who were now near the door.

"Thank you Sakura for taking time out to give us an insightful talk and I'm sure if anyone is interested they won't hesitate to come see you." Karin began smiling at the pink-haired girl.

"And Naruto-" She began, frowning, still annoyed at the disturbance his unexpected arrival had caused.

"Next time, I'll tell you all about how I fought your teacher's husband!" Naruto yelled, his fist pumping in the air, ignoring Karin.

The children cheered loudly, jumping out of their seat, unable to keep their excitement. Sakura quickly noticed the deepening annoyance and rising anger building up in Karin and quickly ushered Naruto out of the room, laughing nervously and slamming the door shut.

"Wha-Sakura-chan?" Naruto began, regaining his balance after his fast removal out the room.

"Do you enjoy being punched in the face or what?" Sakura asked, leaning against the closed door with her hand still on the handle.

"Eh?" He replied, confused.

She sighed loudly and shook her head, "You're an idiot." She said, moving away from the door and walking down the corridor.

He quickly ran after her and began walking beside her, "Geez Sakura-chan, you really need to learn to make more sense when you talk."

She stopped abruptly, ironically by the picture of him hanging on the wall. Pointing at the picture she spoke, "You know, you may be becoming the 6th Hokage, but that doesn't mean I can't punch you through the wall." She said, her face serious and her eyes narrowed.

His eyes widened upon seeing one of her clenched hands and quickly backed a few steps away from her, increasing the distance between them.

She sighed and walked past the scared male. Running her fingers through her hair she spoke calmly, "What are you doing here anyways? Dont you have a speech to go to?" She asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Huh? How do you know about that?" Naruto asked.

"How could I not? You wouldn't shut up about it every time you came to the hospital." Sakura replied, rolling her eyes.

He chuckled loudly, nodding, "Ahh right, right. Well actually I was just on my way there."

"Really? Then how comes you ended up in Karin's classroom?" Sakura asked, suspicious.

"I was just taking a walk. " He replied, nonchalantly.

"Oh yeah? You're taking such a walk that you're walking further away from the room?" She retaliated, smirking at his confused state.

She stopped walking and gestured to their surroundings. They had now exited the academy and we're standing outside the building.

He let out a small nervous laugh, "Oh look at that." He said looking around.

"Naruto." Sakura spoke, looking into his blue eyes. "Are you running away?"

"What? No! I dont run away from nothing!" He proclaimed loudly. "It's just, I'm-" He began, looking to the floor as he struggled to string a sentence together.

"You're scared? Nervous?" She finished, receiving a small nod from the blond.

She smiled softly at this and put a hand to his shoulder, "It's ok to be nervous. It shows that you care." She said, a huge smile greeting him as he looked up her.

"Yeah?" He asked, wanting her reassurance.

"Yeah!" She answered, calming the nervous blond.

He smiled whole heartedly at her, "Sakura-chan, why dont you-" He began only to be interrupted by an unfamiliar male voice from behind him.

"Sakura-san?" Ren called out from behind Naruto. Carrying a small black bag in one hand and his other hand in his pocket, he walked over to the two.

"Ren?" Sakura asked, surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Ahh I thought it was you!" Ren said, smiling at her, ignoring the confused blond between them. "I was on my way back to the hospital from my break and I picked up some herbs from one of the shops. I thought they could be used for a remedy I'm working on." He began, shaking the bag slightly.

"I was hoping you could look through the remedy with me? Give me your input?" He asked, hopefully.

She looked down at the bag and then him and smiled, she nodded, "Yes, of course! That sounds very interesting!"

A pair of blue eyes caught her attention and she quickly turned to Naruto standing to her left. "Ahh Naruto, sorry, this is Ren Asahara. He's a new medic sent from Tanigakure to help us with the patients here." She explained, receiving a slow nod from Naruto, his eyes fixed on the dark haired male in front of him.

"And this is-" Sakura started, beginning to introduce Naruto, only to be cut off by an excited Ren.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" He greeted, grabbing Naruto's hand and shaking it, "I've heard all about you!" He said, smiling widely.

"Really." Naruto replied dryly. Sakura looked at him in annoyance at the tone of his voice and the lack of greeting on his part.

"Of course! Everyone knows about the hero of Konoha! And now the future Hokage too!" Ren exclaimed, "I must say, many congratulations from my village!" He added.

"Right... What village are you from again?" Naruto asked, eyeing the male.

"Tanigakure, why?" Ren replied.

"I see, wasn't it your village that initiated the attacks on Konoha first?" Naruto questioned, staring down at Ren angrily.

"Wha-" Ren tried.

"Why would your village now suddenly want to help Konoha?" He demanded.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, lightly hitting him on the arm. "Why are you being so rude?! Tsunade-sama allowed this so there's no need to bring all of that in!" She scolded him, moving to stand between the two men.

"Sakura-chan-" Naruto began, interrupted by a feminine voice coming their way.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled, waving at him.

"Hinata?" Naruto said, turning to face her. "What's wrong?"

"I-I came here f-for your speech." She breathed, struggling for breath as she stood by Naruto.

"Sakura-san!" Hinata greeted upon seeing the rosette, receiving a warm smile from her.

"That's right, your speech. You should go or you'll be late." Sakura stated, crossing her arms.

Naruto turned to look at the emerald-eyes staring at him and then to the brown eyes beside her. Still suspicious and angry at the new male, he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Hinata.

"Erm, hello." She squeaked looking to Ren, who turned to face her and smiled widely.

"Hi, I'm Ren-" He began, reaching out his arm to shake Hinata's hand only to be slapped away by Naruto's.

"Yeah, yeah, you dont have to tell everyone who you are." Naruto grunted, returning to stand in between the two girls.

Hinata looked at Naruto worryingly and quickly tried to ease the building tension.

"Sakura-san, Ren-kun, why dont you both come and see Naruto-kun's speech too?" Hinata asked, looking at them expectantly.

Naruto slowly turned to face the two beside him, looking through his bangs.

"Ahh, sorry Hinata, but we've got to get back to the hospital. I've been gone for too long now and Ren and I have some things to discuss." Sakura apologised.

His eyes quickly darted down towards the earth and he sighed loudly, "Yeah, I dont think you'd be allowed in." Naruto stated, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking up.

"Excuse me?" Sakura questioned, annoyed.

"Well,** I** dont know who he is and I'm pretty sure no one else does too." Naruto answered, returning his glare at Ren.

"Right. Well, good luck anyways." Sakura replied, turning away from the couple, "Come on Ren, let's go back."

Giving the couple a parting smile, he turned to walk beside Sakura down the path and out of sight.

He remained standing, watching the two leave together, his hands still in his pockets. Eyes fixated on the figures conversing happily and animatedly, moving further away from him.

Slender hands weaved their way through his arm and tugged slightly, taking him out of his daze, "We'll be late." Hinata said, smiling at him.

Naruto looked down at her and returned her smile, leading her back to the academy entrance, turning around one last time to see an empty street. He shuddered slightly, now aware of the much colder breeze.

* * *

"Oh great, you're back." Sakura said with a monotone, rolling her eyes and walking to the front of the desk.

"Yeah, I forgot the actual reason I came here earlier!" Ino joked, laughing to herself. She reached into her small bag and pulled out a pink envelope and handed it to a curious Sakura.

"A birthday party invite?" Sakura asked dryly, quirking an eyebrow at her friend.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" Ino questioned, hurt by her friends' reaction.

"Your birthday was like a month ago. Why are you having a party now?" Sakura said, putting the invite down on the desk.

"My birthday was 3 weeks ago Sakura!" Ino whined, "And I tried to have it for then but everyone's been so busy and the baby's been taking up a lot of time too." Ino continued, watching her friend fiddle with paperwork.

"But now things have calmed down a bit and they've all said they can come!" Ino squealed, earning a light chuckle from Sakura.

"You **are** coming, right?" She questioned, worryingly.

"Erm, I dunno..." Sakura mumbled turning away from her friend.

"What?! What do you mean 'I dunno'?!" Ino yelled.

"I mean that, you know, I just, I dunno, there's a lot of work to do around here and..." Sakura began, trying to hide her stutter.

"Sakura-san?!" Natsume called from behind the girls. "What are you still doing here? You finished a couple of hours ago!" She continued, walking over to them.

"Oh, Natsume I-" Sakura began, interrupted by Ino.

"Oh she did, did she?!" Ino asked, narrowing her eyes at Sakura.

"Yes, Sakura-san's been working so hard here that all the chaos from before has now finally settled!" Natsume exclaimed, oblivious to Sakura's silent actions telling her to be quiet.

"And so Tsunade-sama gave her the weekend off, which is great and fitting because she deserves it!" Natsume finished, beaming at them, unaware of what she had revealed.

"Well, isn't** that** interesting." Ino remarked, keeping her eyed fixated on Sakura, who was doing everything not to look at her.

"Is it?" She said, her voice becoming uncharacteristically high. Before Ino could continue, Sakura had changed her attention to her assistant.

"Well, I'll be off home now. You should leave soon too Sakura-san." Natsume said, bowing slightly and making her way past the reception furniture.

Nodding slowly at her assistant, Sakura turned to her right to see Ino staring at her, eyes remaining narrowed with her arms crossed.

"Well?" She said, her head tilting to the right.

"Well what?" Sakura replied, picking up the papers.

"What excuse are you going to use now? You're obviously aren't busy here and you're not going to be here over the weekend either, in fact you're not even supposed to be here right now!" Ino yelled following Sakura to her office.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Sakura mumbled, walking to her desk and throwing the papers on it.

"What 'yeah yeah yeah'? Does that mean you'll come?" Ino questioned, walking over to her.

Turning around and sighing loudly she nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'll come." Sakura answered, earning a loud squeal from Ino.

"Ah thank god! I really wasn't prepared for a showdown to force you into coming." She revealed to an amused Sakura.

"So why didnt you want to come in the first place then?" She asked, curiously.

Crossing her arms and looking out the window, Sakura spoke in a mature tone, "Just, you know, kind of grew out of birthday parties a few years ago." She finished, smirking at her friend.

"Whatever." Ino replied, rolling her eyes and walking towards the door. "I'll see you on Sunday and hurry up and go home, geez it's kind of creepy how you're always here!" She said, shutting the door behind her.

Walking down the corridor and past the front desk, Ino was in such an elevated mood, now that her best friend would definitely be attending her party, that she had completely ignored the male standing by the front desk.

"A birthday invite?" He questioned aloud.

Her attention quickly changed to the questioning voice and she turned to see the brown-haired male by the desk, holding a piece of light pink paper in his hands.

"Oh, Ren-kun!" She said walking over to him.

"Ino-san? What are you doing here?" He asked, looking up from the paper.

"Ahh nothing, just came to see Sakura." She brushed off waving her hand in front of her.

"I see. This must be yours." He said, handing her the paper.

Taking it from him, she smiled. She was about to walk away but stayed and watched him jotting things in a file. Looking down at the paper and then up at him, she smirked widely and looked at the individual in front of her.

"Here." She said, handing the paper over to him.

He looked up at her, then down at the coloured paper being handed to him. Before he could speak she had already begun,

"It's an invite to my birthday party this weekend." She said, settling the paper down on the desk.

"And you want **me** to come?" He asked, confused.

"Of course I do! We're friends aren't we?" She said laughing loudly, earning a nervous chuckle from him.

"Plus, It'll be a good way for you to meet other people from around here, considering your new." She said, impressed with her own persuasion.

"When you put it like that, I guess you're right. Ok! Yes, I will come." He said, after thinking about it a little.

"I mean you **are** coming for my birthday, obviously...right?" She said, her face now more serious, her eyes boring into him.

"Y-yes! Of course!" He quickly answered, backing away from her.

"Great! Oh and erm, there's one more thing..." She said, quietening her voice and ushering him to come closer.

* * *

_**This took longer to write because term started again :( **_

_**So the next update might take a while because of Uni and work but your reviews are always welcomed and help with motivation!**_

_**Thank you for reading! :)**_


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